• This marks the fifth year-on-year decline in Tesla's retail sales in China in the first seven months of this year.
• In the first seven months of the year, Tesla sold 304,027 vehicles in China, a year-on-year decrease of 6.32 percent.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) saw its retail sales in the Chinese domestic market decline again last month after seeing growth in June.

The US electric vehicle (EV) maker sold 40,617 vehicles in China in July, down 12.14 percent from 46,227 in the same month last year and down 33.94 percent from 61,484 in June, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

This marks Tesla's fifth month of year-on-year decline in retail sales in China this year. In the first seven months of the year, it only saw year-on-year growth in sales in China in March and June.

Tesla has a factory in Shanghai that produces the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, both for local customers and as an export hub.

The factory exported 27,269 vehicles in July, down 2.23 percent year-on-year but up 169.59 percent from June.

Tesla's production pattern is to make vehicles for export in the first half of the quarter and for the local market in the second half, the company had said.

China's retail sales of new energy-vehicles (NEVs) in July were 987,000 units, up 12.0 percent year-on-year, but down 11.2 percent from June, according to the CPCA.

BEV retail sales in July were 607,000 units, up 24.5 percent year-on-year, but down 8.1 percent from June.

This means that Tesla's market share in China's NEV market in July was 4.12 percent, down from 5.53 percent in June. Its market share in China's BEV market in July was 6.69 percent, down from 9.30 percent in June.

Including exports, Tesla China's wholesale sales in July totaled 67,886 units, down 8.41 percent from 74,117 units in the same period last year and down 5.19 percent from 71,599 units in June.

Model Y wholesale sales in July totaled 45,838 units, up 10.71 percent year-on-year but down 10.57 percent from June.

Model 3 wholesale sales in July were 22,048 units, down 32.60 percent year-on-year, but up 8.37 percent from June.

Sales figures for these two models in China are not yet available.

January-July performance

In January-July, Tesla sold 304,027 vehicles in China domestically, down 6.32 percent year-on-year.

Its Shanghai factory exported 128,333 vehicles in January-July, down 27.16 percent year-on-year.

Including exports, Tesla China's wholesale sales in January-July totaled 432,360 vehicles, down 13.66 percent year-on-year.

During this period, the wholesale sales volume of Model Y was 259,872 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 12.91 percent. Model 3 accounted for 172,488 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 14.76 percent.