Tesla breaks its China factory delivery record but trails BYD

Chinese EV leader BYD also enjoyed a record month, according to data from China’s passenger car association

Tesla Inc. hit a record of more than 83,000 electric-vehicle deliveries from its recently upgraded Shanghai factory in September, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association.

The plant delivered 83,135 EVs last month, an 8% increase from August, according to data released by the association on Sunday. 

The American EV maker still trailed Chinese rival BYD Co., which topped the charts for EV deliveries last month with almost 95,000 units, up 14% from August. 

Shanghai, China - August 1, 2020: Exterior view of automobile plant Tesla Gigafactory 3 located in Pudong District, Shanghai, China.

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BYD’s total sales, including hybrids, were a combined 201,000 units in September. BYD also broke its own records in September, in EVs as well as total sales.

The rivalry between the world’s leading EV companies intensified this year after BYD abandoned the production of traditional gasoline-powered vehicles to fully convert to new-energy cars. 

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BYD dominated the domestic market when Tesla lost ground after suffering production hiccups from Covid-19 lockdowns in Shanghai earlier this year, but both are now seeing significant growth.

In July, Tesla suspended operations for several days to upgrade its assembly lines to increase production capacity. Its Shanghai plant can now crank out more than 750,000 a year, the company said at the time.

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Tesla said last week it delivered 343,830 EVs globally during the quarter ended Sept. 30. Vehicles from Shanghai made up about 54% of its global deliveries during this period, up from 44% in the second quarter, according to calculations based on the association’s data.