Tesla China has been suffering from constant setbacks this year. The latest sales statistics indicate that the brand had plummeted 64% in sales during July, whereas local brand BYD had seized on this opportunity and rose drastically in market share.
Giga Shanghai had a significant reduction in capacity this year due to the lockdown implementation, and the upgrade for plant equipment during July had once again brought down the slightly ramped up capacity, which resulted in a sizable decrement of 64% in sales compared to that of June.
Statistics show that there were only 28,217 units of China-made Tesla produced throughout the entire July, of which Model 3 and Model Y accounted for 12,472 and 15,745 units respectively. 8,461 units were sold within China, while 19,756 units were exported.
In comparison, BYD had fully expanded in market share during July. BYD Song DM had a YoY increase of 255% in sales at 33K units, while the new Dolphin, Yuan Plus, and the revised Qin Plus had achieved roughly 20K of sales, whereas the new revised Han DM and Han EV were also sold about 13K units respectively.
The significant increase in sales for all models led to a ratio of more than 25% in EVs for BYD in the Chinese market during July, while Tesla merely had 5% from its two models. Tesla’s statistics are even more appalling if we are just focusing on domestic sales.
Although BYD’s best-selling model remained as the low-price Wuling Hongguang Mini EV at 56K units, it is noteworthy that the company’s average car price has now arrived at RMB 174K (approx. NT$770K), indicating an incredible level of revenue for the company.
With that being said, Tesla has had some good news. After the preparation in July, the company managed to deliver more than 6,700 vehicles on the first week of August, which is a YoY increase of 2.9 times. Looking at the capacity over the past 6 weeks, it looks like Tesla is now gradually returning to the normal trajectory.
▲ Insured Tesla vehicles in China during each single week. (Source: China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission)
EV sales remain thriving in China. Initially forecasted at 6 million units, the Chinese market has now been upward revised to 6.5 million units, and expects to sell more than 60K units each month between August and December. It should not be a problem for the local market in attaining the projected target as both new models and capacity constantly elevate.
(Cover photo source: Tesla)