(Yicai Global) Jan. 3 -- Tesla, whose stock price has dipped nearly 70 percent in the past 12 months, is still the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles for the second straight year despite missing its goal amid oversupply.

The American new energy vehicle manufacturer sold around 1.3 million cars last year, rising by more than 40 percent from a year ago but still lower than the target of 1.5 million units, the California-headquartered firm said in a statement on Jan. 2. China's BYD was No. 2 with 910,000 units.

However, the maker of Model Ys and Model 3s has shown signs of overcapacity for three straight quarters. From October to December, Tesla produced 439,000 cars and delivered 405,000 units. A year earlier, it had delivered 308,600 vehicles.

But the glut may ease as the firm's Shanghai plant was under maintenance during the last week of December and is expected to have an extended break from Jan. 20 to Jan. 31 during the 2023 Chinese New Year.

Tesla was working to boost deliveries late last year by revealing discounts and incentives to stimulate demand in China and Europe. Chief Executive Elon Musk reportedly wrote an email to staff on Dec. 28 to ask them to work hard to deliver as many cars as possible to customers by year-end.

Tesla [NASDAQ: TSLA] rose 1.1 percent to close at USD123.18 during the latest trading day of Dec. 30. Musk has cashed out about USD39.4 billion via frequent share sales since November.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi