Industry data shared on Chinese social media on Tuesday showed that Tesla sold 13,400 vehicles in China between August 4 and 10, a jump of 21.8% from the 11,000 vehicles sold a week before.
The figures marked the US brand’s highest week of the quarter in China.
Sales from the first five weeks of the quarter are 70.9% up when compared to the second quarter, despite being 11.0% down year over year.
Registrations have been slowing increasing from the beginning of the quarter, when the brand registered about 5,000 units — after a 20,000-unit record in the final full week of the second quarter.
From January 1 to August 11, Tesla sold 326,300 vehicles in the Chinese market — 6.1% below the same period a year ago.
Earlier this Tuesday, the company launched a new version of its Model 3 sedan in China, offering its longest driving range yet — up to 830 km under the CTLC standard.
The model is priced from 269,500 yuan, equivalent to $37,500. Deliveries are expected to start in September.
Last week, a new catalogue by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) unveiled new details on both the Model 3+ and Model YL — the latter expected to launch in the Fall, according to a post by the brand on Weibo.
The Model YL is set to compete with other models in the six-seat segment, such as Li Auto‘s Li i8 and the Onvo L90, which were both launched in late July.
The company produces its most affordable Model Y and Model 3 in the Shanghai Gigafactory — unlike the Model S and Model X, for which all remaining inventory units have sold out.
According to insurance registration data, most of the brand’s sales in the country are Model Ys.
The Model Y represented 9,300 EVs from August 4 to 10, slightly above the 8,900 units from the prior week. It was the best-selling SUV in the market.
However, the Model 3 registered the biggest difference from the first week of August — nearly doubling from 2,100 to 4,100 vehicles sold.
The sedan almost closed the gap with its main competitor, Xiaomi‘s SU7, the most registered sedan model in the country, which accounted for 4,300 vehicle registrations last week.
The remaining 2,500 units sold by Xiaomi were YU7s. The brand’s second model was launched in late June and its standard version starts 10,000 yuan lower than the refreshed Model Y.
Tesla ranked third among new energy vehicle brands in China last week, after BYD, which sold 54,800 hybrid and fully electric vehicles in the country.
Stellantis‘ Leapmotor registered 9,300 vehicles, while Huawei-backed Aito recorded 7,000 vehicles.
Guangzhou-based XPeng‘s registrations tumbled to 7,900 units and Li Auto sold 5,300 vehicles.
In the premium sector, the Nio brand registered 2,162 vehicles and was outperformed by its main competitor Zeekr, which sold 3,300 units in the Chinese market from August 4 to 10.
