BEIJING, (Reuters) - Tesla's China-made electric vehicle sales rose for an eighth month in June, supported by an extended recovery in the U.S. automaker's European sales.
Deliveries of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles made in its Shanghai plant, which is also an export hub for Europe, grew 24.4% from a year earlier to 89,091 units, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Thursday. The increase followed a 39.4% gain in May.
For the second quarter, Tesla's combined China sales and exports from the Shanghai factory were up 32.8% year-on-year.
Later on Thursday, the EV specialist is expected to report a 5% year-over-year increase in global vehicle deliveries to 402,780 vehicles over the past quarter, buoyed by stronger demand in Europe where a spike in fuel prices following the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran has prompted more consumers to turn to EVs.
The recovery in Europe and resilient demand in China are expected to help offset declining sales in North America.
Even so, the results could leave the door for its biggest Chinese rival, BYD, to retake the title of the world's top EV seller after briefly ceding it to Tesla in the first quarter.
BYD, which posted a second consecutive month of sales growth in June, sold 557,090 battery-electric vehicles globally in the second quarter, underlining the strength of its overseas expansion, particularly in Europe, as it seeks to diversify beyond China's fiercely competitive domestic market.
Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Ju-min Park; editing by Barbara Lewis and Louise Heavens
Source: Reuters