(Yicai Global) Sept. 7 -- Tesla opened another car sales and service company in Kunming, southwestern Yunnan province on Sept. 3, its fifth in a month, as the US electric car giant continues to expand its presence in second-tier cities across China.

Tesla’s Hong Kong unit has opened sales offices in Wenzhou, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Fuzhou since August. The company also set up a car insurance firm in Shanghai in August.

The new sales and service center’s legal representative is Tom Zhu, president of Tesla Greater China, according to company data platform Tianyancha. It has a registered capital of USD1 million.

The firm's business scope includes new and used car sales, vehicle maintenance, technical consultations, after-sales services, charging station construction and operation, merchandise exhibitions, auto parts, spare parts and battery management system distribution.

Tesla was China’s best-selling electric car brand in the first half, according to a survey conducted by WAYS. The California-based firm shifted 50,000 vehicles in China, three times more than it did over the same period last year. Sales grew further in July to 11,000 units.

The firm’s gigafactory in Shanghai is capable of producing 200,000 Model 3 vehicles a year. As this output increases, the Chinese market is expected to make up 40 percent of Tesla’s global sales by 2022, according to a report by Dan Ives at Wedbush Securities.

Editor: Kim Taylor