Tesla car registrations

U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc. suffered a slump of 64 percent in car registrations in China in April from a month ago, data from auto consultancy LMC Automotive showed.

Tesla’s China registrations, including imported cars, fell to 4,633 units, from 12,709 in March. Its sales are usually lower in the first month of each quarter than in the remaining two. Data from China Passenger Car Association shows sales of Tesla’s Shanghai-made Model 3 sedan hit 3,635 units last month. Tesla expects to make 4,000 units a week in June and start mass production of Model Y sport utility vehicles in the first quarter next year, said its vice president, Tao Lin.

Probe of losses

CHINA’S banking and insurance regulator has started an investigation into Bank of China’s (BOC) recent loss on a crude oil-linked product, the central bank publication Financial News reported Tuesday.

The BOC has so far settled more than 80 percent of the cases involving losses on the investment product, and is self-examining its product design, business strategy and risk control, the regulator was quoted as saying in the report.

Xpeng production

ELECTRIC vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng, backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Xiaomi Corp., said Tuesday it has starting producing its new P7 sedan at its fully-owned Zhaoqing car plant after receiving a government production license.

Xpeng spent 3 billion yuan (US$422 million) on the P7 sedan project and the firm has been investing 700 million yuan each year on intelligent vehicle research and development, Xpeng’s chief executive He Xiaopeng said. The EV maker, which began mass delivery of its G3 sports utility in March 2019, also plans to expand its showroom network in China to over 200 stores by the end of the year from about 150 sites now, He said.