Tesla insurance registrations in China grew for the fourth straight week, as Tesla stock has managed to gain ground since the SVB Financial crash began to weigh on institutions and the broader market. Meanwhile, Moody's lifted Tesla's credit rating out of junk.
Tesla had 18,712 insurance registrations for the week of March 13 to 19, up 10% from the 17,032 in the prior week. The global EV giant had 12,478 Model Y registrations last week and 6,623 Model 3 registrations. Tesla saw its Model 3 numbers increase nearly 10% last week after shooting up 83% two weeks ago. Registrations provide a de facto measure of new car sales in China.
Tesla insurance registrations in China have increased steadily since that number nearly doubled for the week of Feb. 20-26. The EV company's past-week China insurance registrations skyrocketed 216%, compared to the month-ago number of 5,913 for Feb. 13-19. Registrations throughout much of February lagged due to the country's Lunar New Year holiday.
Meanwhile, Tesla's top competitor recorded an insurance registration increase after stagnating numbers for two weeks.
BYD had 38,414 total insurance registrations, up 3% compared to the week prior. The China-based auto giant saw its insurance registrations drop in back to back weeks between for the week of Feb. 27 to March 12. BYD dealers recently cut prices on many models, joining China's big price war started by Tesla.
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Denza, the luxury EV manufacturer 90%-owned by BYD and 10% by Mercedes-Benz, had 2,059 insurance registrations last week, increasing 11% compared to the previous week.
China-EV startups Li Auto saw registrations increase 28% to 5,438, boosted by its new L7 hybrid SUV. Nio registrations slipped 18% to 1,775 and XPeng registrations dropped 20% to 1,296.
Moody's Upgrades Tesla To Investment Grade
Moody's Investors Service upgraded Tesla's credit rating by one notch to Baa3, giving it investment-grade status from a prior junk rating. S&P Global did the same in October. An investment grade from at least two major credit ratings agencies is considered important.
Moody's wrote that the EV giant's outlook is stable and that it expects free cash flow of more than $7 billion and limited debt through 2025.
"Tesla will remain one of the foremost manufacturers of battery electric vehicles with an expanding global presence and very high profitability," Moody's wrote Monday.
TSLA Stock
Tesla stock surged 7.8% to 197.58 Tuesday in market trade. Shares edged up 1.7% to 183.25 Monday.
Since March 13, Tesla stock has gained around 14% even as the failures of SVB Financial, Signature Bank of New York and Credit Suisse trigger worries of broader financial instability.
Prior the bank failures, Tesla sold off hard from March 6 to 10, falling 12.3%. However, TSLA stock found support at its 50-day and 10-week moving averages.
Tesla stock is still forging a bottoming base, below the 200-day line. But that key level is now below the potential 217.75 buy point.
Nio, Li Auto and XPeng stock rose between 3%-8% Tuesday. BYD stock, which trades over the counter in the U.S., edged up 0.8%.
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Tesla China Sales Jumped In February
In February, Tesla China sales rose solidly vs. a year earlier, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association.
Tesla sold 74,402 China-made vehicles last month. That's nearly a 13% increase compared to January and 32% sales growth compared to the 56,515 last year. Tesla sold 51,412 China-made Model Y vehicles and 22,990 Model 3 vehicles.
The majority (54%) of those vehicles were exported to Europe and elsewhere. Tesla exported 40,479 vehicles in February, up more than 3% vs. January and a 22% increase compared to a year ago. That means Tesla delivered 33,923 vehicles domestically in China throughout the month. Tesla generally focuses on exports in the first half of each quarter.
Other China EV makers also mostly reported significant sales increases in February vs. January, which had the Lunar New Year holidays.
Please follow Kit Norton on Twitter @KitNorton for more coverage.
