In China, Tesla's sales drop by 98% due to strict COVID-19 lockdown: Report

Tesla's sales in China have fallen down 98% owing to the COVID-19 lockdowns. China which is the world's largest automobile market is at an all-time low in automobile sales right now due to the lockdown. China Passenger Car Association suggests that the EV producer Tesla sold 1,512 vehicles in mainland China last month, down 98% from March. The drop comes as tens of millions of people in at least 31 cities have been locked down for weeks, disrupting supply chains and affecting consumer spending in the world's second-largest economy.

As per the reports of CNN, in March, Tesla was the country's biggest seller of electric vehicles, with 65,184 vehicles shipped from its Shanghai facility. However, in April, when the government shut down Shanghai and a number of other cities to combat the spread of the virus, the company's production and sales suffered a significant setback. Last month, Tesla's Gigafactory was shut down for several weeks, with manufacturing only recently resumed.

Elon Musk 'doesn't expect this to be a huge issue'

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla stated on Tuesday at the Financial Times' virtual vehicle conference that he had recent contacts with the Chinese authorities, and it's evident that the lockdowns are being lifted swiftly. He further stated that in the near weeks, he doesn't expect this to be a huge issue.

Other automakers also reported a sharp drop in. Because of the components shortage caused by the Shanghai lockdown, Toyota (TM) has shut down 14 production lines at eight sites in Japan from May 16 to May 21. Because of this, the company's global production will be decreased by 50,000 units in May.

Overall car sales in the country fell 46% in April compared to March

In April, production at five major automakers in Shanghai fell by an average of 75% from the previous month. During the same time, big automakers in northeastern Changchun saw their production drop by 54%, according to CNN. Separate data released on Wednesday by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers revealed that overall car sales in the country fell 46% in April compared to March, to 1.2 million units. April's figure was the lowest in a decade.

Image: AP