Despite a slowdown in the auto sector in China through most of 2019, Tesla registrations for the month of December bucked the trend, posting 6,643 registrations for the month, and 42,715 units for all of 2019.
With the completion of Tesla’s new Gigafactory 3 in Shaghai late in the year, and the first deliveries of made-in-China Model 3’s only happening recently, that means all but 30 of those registrations were imported Tesla vehicles accoring to Bloomberg.
Related: Tesla defies convention again as registrations take flight in China
Tesla also recently announced a price hike for imported Tesla Model 3’s starting this month, as sales of locally made Model 3’s begin.
Compared with 2018 sales figures for Tesla in China, the impressive December sales meant that 2019 sales increased by 161% year-over-year. That is a huge increase for any automaker, let alone one that didn’t produce any vehicles locally in China.
Related: Tesla Model 3 price drop equals big demand in China
Now that Gigafactory Shanghai is ramping up production of the Model 3, and with the recent news that later this year the Gigafactory will also begin production of the upcoming Model Y, Tesla could see a similar increase in 2020 sales in the largest electric vehicle market in the world.
