In December, Tesla‘s Model Y was the best-selling vehicle across all powertrain types in China, despite the higher price when compared to its closest rivals in the world’s largest EV market.
All 2025 versions of the Model Y had already sold out for the year in early December, including the recently launched six-seat Model Y L.
According to data published by China’s Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Friday, the SUV represented 66,189 of all vehicle sales in the final month of the year.
The company’s Model 3 sedan ranked 10th, with 30,982 units sold.
Model Y and Model Y L
Tesla‘s Model Y is currently priced from 263,500 yuan, equivalent to $37,700.
The model is available in Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) with standard and long-range trims, as well as in All-Wheel Drive (AWD) Long Range — the latter beginning at 313,500 yuan.
In August 2025, Tesla launched a six-seat variant, the Model Y L, with deliveries beginning the following month.
The three-row SUV starts at 339,000 yuan ($48,500).
As of Friday, orders placed for the entry-level Model Y RWD have an estimated delivery time of between one and three weeks.
Other Model Y variants are expected to be delivered within four to six weeks, while orders for the Model Y L are anticipated to arrive in two to four weeks.
Tesla China is currently offering a 0% APR financing option on five-year contracts, available until January 31.
BYD SUV Portfolio
The second-ranked was the BYD Song series, with 55,107 units registered.
The 2025 Song Plus EV is priced about 100,000 yuan lower than the Model Y, at 149,800 yuan ($21,450).
Both the Song Plus and Song Pro models are featured in both plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and fully electric (BEV) versions; however, BYD still sold about 10,000 Song SUVs fewer than its Tesla rival in the last month of 2025.
The Chinese automaker also offers the premium Song L in both hybrid and electric versions, the more affordable Yuan Up and Yuan Plus SUVs, the Sealion-series and the Qin.
Most of these models have ranked in the top 20 most sold vehicles, due to their competitive pricing, as most models from the Chinese giant are priced below 200,000 yuan ($28,600).
The Seagull compact, priced from 56,800 yuan, was the third most sold vehicle in China last month.
Xiaomi YU7
Xiaomi launched its highly anticipated YU7 SUV in late June, with deliveries beginning in July.
The model, with a starting price about 10,000 yuan below Tesla‘s Model Y, at 253,500 yuan ($36,300), set a new industry record with over 240,000 locked-in orders in just 18 hours.
The company, which already had estimated delivery times of up to 52 weeks for its SU7 model, struggled to keep up with strong demand for the new model.
In the first days, estimates showed a delivery waiting time of 60 weeks.
However, production has ramped up significantly, with 33,662 units delivered in October and 33,729 units in November.
In December, deliveries of the YU7 jumped to 39,089 units, making it the 5th best-selling vehicle in China.
According to a statement published by Xiaomi last week, the SU7 led cumulative sales in the over-200,000 yuan ($28,600) sedan segment in 2025, while its YU7 has topped mid-to-large SUV sales for four consecutive months.
Three-row Segment
In July, and ahead of Tesla‘s move, several brands launched three-row SUVs in the Chinese market. These included Onvo, with its second model L90, and Li Auto’s Li i8.
The Onvo L90, positioned in the family segment, is priced at 299,800 yuan ($42,900) and available in both six-seat and seven-seat versions.
The price includes the battery; it lowers to 213,800 yuan ($30,600) if the customer opts for Nio‘s Battery as a Service (BaaS) system.
The Onvo L90 led registrations of the Nio Group in 2025. In its first three months, over 30,000 units were listed.
In September, Nio launched the third-generation ES8, which broke the company’s records with an outstanding demand from its debut, quickly selling out its production allocation of 40,000 units for 2025.
Over 20,000 ES8 units were delivered in December alone, with the model ranking 20th among all vehicles sold in China.
The Nio ES8 is priced from 308,800 yuan ($44,200) with BaaS and 406,800 yuan ($58,250) with the battery included.
