July and the seven months from January to July were another tough period for Tesla in China, which again saw sales decline compared to the previous year.
Preliminary Chinese car industry data shows that Tesla China sold 500,740 vehicles in the January-July period, down 7.41% from the same period in 2023.
However, sales in July—including exports—were slightly stronger than in June, increasing by 4.4% to 74,117 units and surpassing July of last year by more than 15%.
The breakdown between domestic sales and exports was not available from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
Tesla operates a factory in Shanghai that produces the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, supplying both to local customers and serving as the company’s primary export hub. Tesla typically prioritizes export production in the first half of each quarter and domestic production in the second half.
The CPCA data indicates that wholesale sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), which encompass plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), reached an estimated 950,000 units in July, representing a 29% year-on-year increase but a 3% decline from June. Actual sales figures will be released next Wednesday (postponed from this week).
Tesla exclusively produces BEVs, while some Chinese NEV manufacturers, such as industry leader BYD, offer both PHEVs and BEVs.
BYD claimed the top spot for passenger NEV wholesale sales in July with 340,799 units, according to the CPCA.
BYD sold 1,955,366 NEVs from January to July, up 28.8% from the same period in 2023. Passenger BEV sales for BYD reached 856,153 units in the same period, a 13.9% year-over-year increase and 71% more than Tesla. Passenger PHEV sales totaled 1,091,791 units in January-July, representing a 44.1% year-on-year growth. Tesla does not produce or sell PHEVs.