U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla said on Friday its China sales rose 8.8% to a record high of more than 657,000 cars in 2024, a strong performance in a competitive market in a year when its annual global deliveries fell for the first time.

Tesla Inc. recorded its first-ever drop in annual shipments from its Shanghai plant since the facility started mass production in 2020, a clear sign of the intensifying local competition and lukewarm global demand.