China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Friday that electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) delivered 75,842 China-made vehicles in April. Deliveries were down 14.7% compared to March, but a huge jump from a year earlier, when the city of Shanghai was in a COVID-19 lockdown. In April last year, the company delivered only 1,512 China-made Model 3 and Model Y cars.
Rival automaker, BYD (SZ:002594) sold 209,467 vehicles in April, CPCA data showed, up 1.6% from March.
Tesla cut prices in several markets globally this year and kickstarted a price war in China that, since the start of the year, has seen more than 40 local and international car brands join in.
The price cuts have lowered automakers' earnings, with Tesla reporting a 24% plunge in first-quarter net income even though its quarterly global deliveries reached a fresh all-time high.
However, the American EV giant this week raised prices by up to $290 on its two top-selling models - Model Y and Model 3 - in Canada, China, Japan, and the United States on Monday. On Friday, it raised prices for its new Model S and Model X vehicles in China by 19,000 yuan ($2,751).
According to reports, Tesla is preparing to export a version of their Model Y to Canada this year from its Shanghai factory, the first time it will ship cars to North America from China.
Shares of TSLA are up 0.90% in premarket trading on Friday.