Tesla sold 72,200 vehicles in China in September, bringing third-quarter sales here to 181,883 and contributing 39.29 percent of its global deliveries.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) saw deliveries in China grow further last month, hitting a new high for the year.

Tesla China sold 88,321 vehicles in September, including 16,121 for export, data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed.

That means the US electric vehicle (EV) maker sold 72,200 vehicles in China in September, surpassing August's 63,456 to hit a new high for the year, CnEVPost calculations show.

That's up 65.95 percent from the 43,507 units sold in the same month last year and up 13.78 percent from August.

In the third quarter, Tesla sold 181,883 vehicles in China, up 30.27 percent year-on-year and up 24.67 percent from the second quarter.

This means that sales in China contributed 39.29 percent of Tesla's global deliveries of 462,890 vehicles in the third quarter.

In the January-September period, Tesla sold 460,200 vehicles in China, an increase of 6.1 percent year-on-year.

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 for it.

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.

Yesterday, Tesla announced that it saw its 3 millionth China-built vehicle roll off the assembly line from its Shanghai factory, 13 months after its 2 millionth vehicle produced here.

On September 28, Tesla said it reached the 1 million vehicle milestone for exports from China.

Tesla China's overall sales in September that included exports were up 19.24 percent from 74,073 in the same month last year, and up 1.87 percent from 86,697 vehicles in August.

Exports from Tesla's Shanghai factory decreased 47.26 percent in September from 30,566 in the same month last year, and decreased 30.64 percent from 23,241 in August.

Of Tesla China's September sales including exports, Model Y was 51,152 units, contributing 57.92 percent of sales. This represents a 3.94 percent decrease from 53,249 in the same month last year and a 9.16 percent decrease from 56,309 in August.

Model 3 sales, including exports, were 37,169 units, contributing 42.08 percent of Tesla China's September sales. That's up 78.49 percent from 20,824 a year ago and 22.31 percent from 30,388 in August.

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

China's new energy vehicle (NEV) retail sales in September were a record 1,123,000 units, up 50.47 percent from a year ago and up 9.55 percent from August.

Retail sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in China totaled 644,000 units in September, accounting for 57.3 percent of all NEV retail sales. That's up 28.8 percent year-on-year and 10.9 percent from August.

That means Tesla's share of China's NEV market was 6.43 percent in September, up from 6.18 percent in August and up from 5.83 percent a year earlier, CnEVPost calculations show.

In China's BEV market, Tesla's share was 11.21 percent in September, up from 10.88 percent in August and up from 8.7 percent a year earlier.

Tesla delivers 462,890 cars globally in Q3, higher than BYD's BEV sales