In January, Tesla saw a rise in overall wholesale vehicle shipments in China, including local retail sales and exports.
Initial data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows that Tesla’s Made-in-China (MIC) Model 3/Model Y cars had an overall wholesale shipment of 71,447 units last month, reflecting an 8% increase from the previous year.
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Tesla Giga Shanghai EV factory
The Tesla Giga Shanghai factory is the world’s largest all-electric car manufacturing plant. In 2023, it produced close to 950,000 Model 3 and Model Y cars. These electric vehicles from Shanghai are primarily sold in China, with exports accounting for over a third of the volume.
While the recent result is lower than in November (82,432) and December (94,139), it still marks the best January ever for Tesla in China.
* CPCA reports wholesale shipments, not registrations/customer deliveries.
It seems that the upgraded Model 3 (also known as Highland) and the slightly updated Tesla Model Y continue to attract a large number of customers in China. In 2023, the Model Y became the best-selling all-electric model in the country.
We expect to receive local retail sales/export data in the coming days to better understand Tesla’s situation.
Tesla MIC Model 3/Model Y wholesale shipments last month (YOY change):
- Total wholesale shipments: 71,447 (up 8%)
For reference, in 2023, the total wholesale sales almost reached 950,000 units, up 33% year-over-year.
Tesla MIC Model 3/Model Y wholesale shipments in 2023 (YOY change):
- Total wholesale shipments: 947,742 (up 33%)
Tesla recently announced that the Shanghai factory “resumed normal rate production in Q4, rebounding from the scheduled downtime in Q3. Production of the updated Model 3 ramped up to full speed in less than two months.” The factory has the capacity to produce close to one million electric cars annually.
As of today, the initial CPCA data does not include numbers for retail sales and exports or individual results for the two models. However, we do have full data for retail sales in China through December 2023. In 2023, the Model 3 recorded over 147,000 sales (up 18% year-over-year), while the Model Y expanded by almost 45% year-over-year to over 456,000.