Tesla Sold A Lot Of Cars In China — Despite Earlier Reports Claiming Otherwise

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

---

Well known Tesla fan Vincent on Twitter, who’s also the founder of Tesmanian, has shared some news about Tesla’s actual sales in China. He noted that Tesla had a total of 21,936 retail sales and 11,527 exports last month. These numbers are much higher than the earlier claims of 9,800, which were reported mere days ago.

I remembered some media reported only 9k from days ago… 😂

— vincentyu.eth (@vincent13031925) June 8, 2021

Another, smaller news site, The Information, reported that Tesla’s orders were down by 50% in May and that Tesla’s crisis in China was continuing. The article stated that Tesla’s order in China fell by half in May compared to April and cited internal data as its source. The claim from this article was that Tesla’s net order in China dropped to 9,800 in May.

You just make up numbers and write a story. Glad to know who not to follow or read. Great reputation builder. 🙄 https://t.co/Erh7J13zat

— ✨Amy Ferguson (@coskier61) June 8, 2021

It seems that the “person with knowledge of the data” gave the reporter the wrong information. This isn’t surprising, given the way misinformation is often spread about Tesla. The rest of that original article is paywalled, but for those who subscribe to The Information, you can access it here.

Tesla’s Sales Are Surging In China

Reuters also reported that Tesla’s made-in-China vehicle sales grew by 29% from April to May. Though, recall that Tesla’s sales are not even from month to month — they typically grow through the quarter, with the first month of the quarter being lowest and the last month highest.

In total, Tesla sold 33,463 made-in-China EVs last month, not 9,800. Whoever came up with that low number number is worse at math than I am. The data come from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), which also reported some great news overall for electric vehicles.

In total, China’s new electric vehicle sales surged 177% year over year, to a total of 185,000 cars in May. As for the total number of passenger vehicle sales, that rose 1.1% to 1.66 million cars. Reuters also noted that Tesla’s China sales accounted for a third of its total sales and that the CPCA expects China to sell 2.4 million electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cell passenger cars this year.

https://twitter.com/SamTwits/status/1402243712990711810

Who Benefits From The Misinformation Reported By The Media?

Many people benefit from the misinformation spread by the media outlets that shared it. Tesla’s critics and short sellers might have benefited for a short time. Though, as the truth comes out, the rebound effect may be stronger.

Anyone could make up numbers and cite anonymous sources. Reporting the shockingly low figure of below 10,000 sales surely got that site some extra attention and views, but now it’s also taking a reputation hit for reporting false information. The same for any others in the media industry who ran with the story without a good source.

I do find it odd that bad sources are relied upon when it comes to damning evidence of something, such as a shocking sales report that would affect the stock market. Negativity sells, though. And this doesn’t just happen with Tesla. I’ve seen it around different topics. In many cases, good, heartwarming stories just aren’t as popular as the loud headlines that trigger your fear, anger, or other negative emotional reaction.

It’s literally making money off of emotional manipulation of the masses, and in the world of Tesla, it’s very polarized. You have many people who love Elon Musk and many who absolutely hate him. Just look at the so-called “Anonymous” video. I’m often scrolling through TikTok and I’ve come across several stitches (a form of sharing) of the Anonymous video that have led people to believe that Elon Musk owns child slaves in Africa. Dave Lee has already debunked FUD in the video, but that won’t stop much of it from spreading to people who live in an anti-Tesla or anti-Elon bubble.

Media outlets that report fake numbers or headlines that are misleading are profiting off of the emotions of their readers. This is why, I believe, they do it. What’s worse is that when they get called out, they don’t correct their information, but instead accuse Elon Musk or “toxic Tesla fans” of attacking them. Many are not toxic, but they do care about Tesla and follow it closely — enough to know that the article claiming that Tesla only sold 9,800 cars was based on wrong information. It’s similar to what we covered last month with regard to the Tesla crash in Texas. Yet we get called a cult when we simply correct lies or obvious mistakes.