Tesla registered 5,300 vehicles in China from April 7 to April 13, industry data shared on Chinese social media showed on Tuesday.
Figures jumped about 50% from the first week of the month as the company always prioritizes exports from its Shanghai plant over local deliveries in the begining of each quarter.
Of the total 5,300 vehicles recorded last week, 3,900 were for the new Model Y as production ramp-up continues while 1,400 were Tesla Model 3 units.
Deliveries of the refreshed SUV in China began in late February and steadily increased through the end of the first quarter. In the first week of the second quarter, Model 3 registrations in China dropped sharply to 1,040 (due to the reason above mentioned), increasing last week by nearly 35% to 1,400.
Competitors
China’s BYD maintained its position as the overall market leader, with 53,400 vehicle registrations during the same period — an 18% week-over-week increase.
Li Auto led China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) segment for the week of April 7–13, registering 7,200 units — a 16% increase from the previous week. XPeng came next with 6,700 units, marking an 11% decline. In the premium segment, Nio recorded its strongest week of the year, surpassing Zeekr’s weekly sales for the first time since January.
Since the beginning of the year, BYD has sold approximately 722,000 vehicles in China. Tesla followed with 143,000 units sold year-to-date. Xiaomi registered 86,000 year to date.
U.S. Tariffs on China
Amid rising trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies, Tesla halted last week new orders for its Model S and Model X in China.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y are mostly unaffected by tariffs in China and the U.S., since about 95% of their parts come from local suppliers and are built at the company’s Shanghai Gigafactory.
But because the Model S and Model X are only made in the U.S., their profit margins are heavily impacted by Chinese tariffs. According to China Auto Dealers Association analyst Li Yanwei, China imported 1,553 Model X and 311 Model S vehicles in 2024.
Following a week of escalating tariff exchanges, Beijing announced last Friday that it would raise tariffs on U.S. imports to 125%, just a day after the White House revealed that total tariffs on Chinese goods had reached 145%.
Outlook
Tesla sold 78,828 vehicles from its Shanghai plant in March, including both domestic and export units, according to the China Passenger Car Association. For the first quarter of 2024, the company recorded 172,754 sales from the Shanghai factory — a decline of 21.8% year-over-year and 28.3% compared to the previous quarter.
On a global scale, Tesla delivered 1,789,226 electric vehicles in 2024, down 1% from 1.81 million the year before. In the first quarter of 2025, deliveries totaled 336,700 units, marking a 12.6% year-over-year decline.
Elon Musk had projected 20–30% sales growth for Tesla in 2025, but the target was updated by the company in late January to a “return to growth” outlook.
As of the time of writing, Tesla is trading at $256, up nearly 1.4% from the previous close. The stock has grown 63% in the past twelve months.
