Tesla will be hoping price cuts put China sales on the right track after 70pc plunge in October
- Freeman Shen, CEO of WM Motor, sides with Tesla over sales figures, saying the Chinese Passenger Car Association is not always accurate
Tesla will be hoping that price cuts help it sell more cars in China after the US electric car maker’s sales on the mainland fall by 70 per cent year on year last month, although it disputes the figures cited by the China Passenger Car Association.
Tesla said in a statement that the numbers by the association were “wildly inaccurate”. It however did not disclose figures.
But Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the CPCA, told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday that their sales figure of 211 units was based on deliveries to end buyers.
“We are not aware of Tesla’s sales reporting mechanism, but our figure means that 211 Chinese buyers received the cars in October after transactions were completed,” he said.
However, Freeman Shen, CEO of WM Motor, told CNBC that he had doubts about CPCA’s figures.
“I doubt that number because, as a person who has been working in the Chinese auto industry for many years … the Chinese Passenger Car Association is not always accurate,” Shen told CNBC.