In the first quarter, Tesla sold 132,420 vehicles in China, contributing 34.23 percent of its global deliveries.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) doubled its sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in China in March compared to February, with exports from its Shanghai plant down slightly.

The US EV maker sold 89,064 China-made vehicles in March, including 26,666 exported, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

That means Tesla sold 62,398 vehicles in China in March, up 107.02 percent from 30,141 in February, though down 18.61 percent from 76,663 a year earlier.

Tesla has a factory in Shanghai that produces the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, both for deliveries to local customers and as an export hub.

Tesla's pattern is to produce cars for export in the first half of the quarter and for the local market in the second half, it previously said.

February 10-17 was the 2024 Chinese New Year holiday, which created a major disruption to February car deliveries. Last year's New Year holiday was January 21-27, 2023.

Tesla China's exports in March were down 11.77 percent from February's 30,224 units while up 118.47 percent from 12,206 units in the same month last year.

Of the 89,064 China-made vehicles sold by Tesla in March, including exports, 57,586 were Model Y and 31,478 were Model 3, according to the CPCA.

Retail sales figures for the Model 3 and Model Y in China in March are not yet available.

Looking at the industry as a whole, retail sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China were 709,000 units in March, up 30 percent year-on-year and up 83 percent from February.

In the January-March period, China's NEV retail sales amounted to 1,768,835 units, up 34 percent year-on-year.

Retail sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in China totaled 428,000 units in March, up 11 percent year-on-year and up 95 percent from February.

Retail sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in China were 281,000 units in March, up 76 percent year-on-year and up 67 percent from February.

That means Tesla's share of China's NEV market was 8.8 percent in March, up from 7.77 percent in February and down from 14.12 percent a year earlier, CnEVPost calculations show.

In China's BEV market, Tesla's share was 14.58 percent in March, up from 13.64 percent in February, but down from 20.02 percent a year earlier.

Among the major EV players, companies including Tesla, Nio (NYSE: NIO), and Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) make only BEVs, while companies like BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) and Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) make both BEVs and PHEVs.

In the first quarter, Tesla sold 132,420 vehicles in China, down 3.64 percent from 137,429 in the same period a year ago and down 22.08 percent from 169,935 in the fourth quarter of 2023.

This means that sales in China contributed 34.23 percent of Tesla's 386,810 global deliveries in the first quarter.

Tesla regains global BEV crown over BYD in Q1