(Yicai Global) June 9 -- Tesla managed to boost its electric vehicle shipments in China last month despite its mounting car recalls and consumer complaints.

The US carmaker's deliveries totaled 33,500 units in China in May, up nearly 30 percent from a month earlier, according to data the China Passenger Car Association released yesterday.

The wholesale number of vehicles that went to the local market jumped 88 percent to 21,900 units last month from April. But others were headed elsewhere. Some 11,500 units, or a third of all the shipments, were exported abroad from China.

The California-headquartered company has proven to be resilient in the face of several car recalls in China over recent years and consumer complaints regarding issues, often related to the brakes. Last February, the firm said it will systematically investigate buyers’ problems to safeguard consumer rights after being summoned by regulators to discuss complaints.

The direction is up. Tesla will sell more Model Ys this month than in May, Cui Dongshu, general-secretary of the CPCA, told Yicai Global. Model Y has been doing better than Model 3 and has great growth potential as Chinese clients seem to prefer sport utility vehicles to sedans, Cui added.

China’s new energy vehicle market should accelerate its growth, according to the CPCA. Electric passenger vehicle deliveries should reach 2.4 million units this year, the association predicted, raising its earlier estimate of 2 million cars.

In May, such vehicle shipments nearly tripled to 196,000 units from a year ago, and an almost 7 percent increase from April.

From January to May, deliveries of electric passenger vehicles in China rose almost four times to 857,000 units from a year earlier.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi