Tesla Photo:Xinhua

 Tesla's sales in the Chinese market in August reached 44,264 units, up 275 percent year-on-year, its best performance ever and also the first time it surpassed 40,000 in a single month, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Wednesday.

As of August, Tesla has sold 152,531 cars in the Chinese market in 2021, already surpassing last year's whole amount.

The performance also came despite a series of accidents involving Tesla cars, which contributed to public concerns about quality. 

In July, Tesla sales in the Chinese market plunged 69 percent to 8,621 vehicles, down from 28,138 in June. 

The US carmaker is also reportedly ramping up recruitment for public relations and legal affairs teams in China, amid increasing scrutiny in the country over safety and customer service complaints.

Retail sales in China’s passenger car market as a whole reached 1.453 million units in August, a year-on-year decrease of 14.7 percent, and also a further decrease of 7 percent compared to August 2019, showing a weaker growth rate.

The total sales number in the first eight months reached 12.90 million, a year-on-year increase of 17.1 percent, which was 6 percentage points lower than the growth rate from January to July. 

The main reason for the slowdown is the impact of the high base from July to August 2020, said the association.

Meanwhile, sales of new energy passenger vehicles continued to increase, reaching 249,000 in August, a year-on-year increase of 167.5 percent, and a month-on-month increase of 12.0 percent. From January to August, the retail sales of new energy vehicles reached 1.479 million, a year-on-year increase of 202.1 percent.

In 2021, Belgium is expected to become China's largest auto export destination.