In China, Tesla has now manufactured one million vehicles

Tesla is celebrating the one millionth vehicle it has produced in China, a significant achievement for the electric vehicle manufacturer’s global aspirations. But Tesla hasn’t yet recovered from its recent domestic problems.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced the one-million milestone in a weekend tweet. However, the China Passenger Car Association reported that Tesla had already produced 974,000 vehicles in China as of the end of July, indicating that the business only produced 26,000 vehicles in Shanghai during the first half of August. According to the CPCA, Tesla was producing cars there at a rate of 67,000 per month between the end of last year and the beginning of this year, so this would be slower than that.

In order to make up for production lost due to Covid lockdowns, Tesla increased Chinese production to a record pace of roughly 71,000 vehicles in June. This represents a considerable decrease from that month.

According to Gordon Johnson, CEO of GLJ Research and a sharp critic of Tesla, the largest producer of electric vehicles, if the China facility continues to operate below capacity, it may be a hint that Tesla won’t meet its global sales goals for the current quarter or the entire year.

Johnson stated that the lack of demand for the company’s goods, not problems with the supply chain, is the reason for their actions. He pointed out that increased competition in China from Western and Chinese EV manufacturers is causing Tesla to lose market share.

A request for comment on Tesla’s sales and production thus far this quarter was not met with a response from the company, as is customary. Prior to Musk’s tweet, Tesla had never made public its production figures for China, thus the CPCA’s estimate of the number of vehicles it has produced there could not be verified.

Tesla investors have been paying close attention to Shanghai manufacturing since it was halted for the most of the second quarter due to Covid lockdowns. Due to this, Tesla experienced an unusual quarter-to-quarter decline in earnings and sales. Last month, Musk told investors that the lockdowns were causing “supply chain hell.”

Nevertheless, investors praised Musk’s statement, and Tesla (TSLA) shares ended the day Monday up 3%. Since the company released its second quarter earnings on July 20, the stock has been on the rise and has increased by 25% since then. Even said, shares are still down 12% for the year despite this increase.