Tesla (TSLA) Plans to Deliver 5,000 Cars to China This Year; Import Duties Remain Large Obstacle

Tesla's (Nasdaq: TSLA) still has big ambitions for China this year amid having a ho-hum result in the country for 2015.

According to Nikkei, Tesla is planning to deliver 5,000 cars to China this year after missing its 2015 goal of 10,000 units. The number compares with 3,025 Model S units delivered in China through the first three months of 2015 and 2,221 units delivered to Hong Kong last year.

One of the bigger challenges for Tesla will be import duties on the vehicles. CEO Elon Musk commented: We are still doing reasonably well in mainland China, but we do face quite [a] high import duty, and we do not yet have access to local incentives ... The obstacle for our cars in mainland China is much greater than it would be, actually, anywhere in the world.

Shares of Tesla are down 1 percent Wednesday.

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