Tesla has fired back at a report out of China that sales in October fell off a cliff.
An official at the China Passenger Car Association told Reuters on Tuesday that the electric car maker sold 211 vehicles in October, a whopping 70% slide compared to October 2017. It’s unclear how the data was obtained, but Tesla clearly disagrees.
In a statement to Coins2Day on Tuesday, a Tesla spokesperson called the report “wildly inaccurate” and said that the company does “not disclose regional or monthly sales numbers.” However, the association’s claim that Tesla only sold 211 cars in China last month is “off by a significant margin,” the spokesperson added.
Tesla has acknowledged some softness in its China business, due in large part to the tariffs China has placed on the import of U.S. Cars into its country. Tesla (TSLA) has stopped short, however, of saying that China sales are falling at a 70% clip.
Still, tariff problems have only expanded a broader automotive industry problem in China. Increasingly, automakers there are finding that the Chinese are less likely to buy new vehicles, causing a slowdown in industry sales and even more pressure on American companies that need to deal with both tariffs and sluggish demand.
To overcome some of those challenges and avoid tariffs, Tesla earlier this year announced plans to invest $5 billion in a factory in Shanghai. It would be the first Tesla factory outside the United States.
