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| Tesla suffers after a sharp drop in Chinese sales |
Tesla's stock price fell more than 5% after a report that the company's auto orders in China fell sharply last month.
Tesla's monthly net orders in China rose from more than 18,000 vehicles in April to about 9,800 vehicles in May.
Tesla's Shanghai plant is expected to produce about 500,000 electric vehicles annually, which will be delivered to China and exported to other parts of Asia and Europe.
Elon Musk's electric car company is struggling to achieve recall and safety in China.
After some high-profile auto accidents, price changes and quality complaints from Chinese customers, the company still faces strong opposition in public relations.
Tesla suffers in China:
While Tesla has yet to talk about the potential impact of the PR crisis in China, the impact is expected to be massive.
Over the next few months, the Tesla brand, its orders and deliveries will be hit hard.
It's unclear to what extent the drop in demand was due to concerns about Tesla's safety features or increased competition, particularly from Chinese automakers.
The research firm estimates that Tesla's orders in China fell about 30% in May compared to April.
According to a study by the International Energy Agency, China was the second largest electric vehicle market in the world last year.
The electric car maker's recent growth has largely depended on its ability to successfully manufacture and sell cars in China.
Based on the vacancy analysis, the company will increase the number of legal and government positions in 2021. It is also increasing the workforce across the Shanghai plant.
Chinese rival Weilai Motors saw a decline in May due to a global semiconductor shortage affecting business.
But another competitor, Xiaopeng Motors, said it shipped 5,686 vehicles in May. This is a 483% increase over the same period last year, and a 10% increase over the previous month.
The electric car maker's share price is down about 15% since the start of the year. It is down more than 35% from its Jan 29 high on the day.