Yahoo TV

Tesla sold a record number of China-made vehicles in December.

That's according to data from the China Passenger Car Association on Tuesday (January 10).

Consumers bought 70,847 of the Chinese-made vehicles - Tesla's highest monthly rate since it began manufacturing in Shanghai in 2019.

December sales were almost three times the amount achieved in the same month a year before.

It also lifted Tesla's total sales of China-made cars for last year to just over 473,000.

That made up around half of the vehicles the carmaker delivered globally last year.

The Shanghai factory makes electric Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles for both domestic and international markets.

Tesla said back in October that capacity could exceed 450,000 vehicles per year.

The company has largely avoided the supply chain problems that hurt many of its rival during the health crisis, and was able to post record quarterly deliveries.

The U.S. carmaker is competing in a tough EV market in China which is dominated by domestic brands.

Elon Musk's firm ranks third in EV sales in the country and is the only foreign automaker in the top ten.