Can Model Y sales catapult Tesla back to top EV seller in China?

Tesla Model Y sales tripled in February in China, eating into sales of Chinese premium EV rivals Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto.

Although sales in China were down by 38% as the country celebrated the Chinese New Year, the jump in sales showed that Tesla bucked the trend when added to Model 3 sales, which remained flat following January’s 13,000 plus units sold.

More than that, it raises the question of whether Tesla can reclaim its title of best-selling electric carmaker in China, a title that was taken from it by the tiny Wuling Mini EV.

More correctly known as the Wuling Hong Guang Mini EV, this diminutive (in both size and price) two-door hatch first stole the claim to best-selling EV in the world’s largest EV market back in September.

By January, it outsold the Tesla Model 3 three-to-one, marking five months at number one and beating Tesla’s winning streak of four months.

While the Wuling Mini EV is in an entirely different end of the auto market to Tesla, 36,000 vehicles were sold in January compared to 13,000 plus Model 3s as Tesla took the foot off the late 2020 delivery pedal (in December it delivered a record 23,000 or so vehicles as it sought to achieve its 500,000 global sales target).

Now, new sales figures from February shared by China’s automobile industry association CAAM (via South China Morning Post) show that Tesla sold 4,630 Model Ys compared to the 1,641 sold in January.

The jump in deliveries has come as Tesla commenced production of the electric crossover at its Shanghai gigafactory in January, and dropped the price of the Model 7 by 30% to 339,900 yuan (276,900 yuan – $A55,257 converted – after subsidies).

We can expect this number to jump again in March, and as long as demand mops up available inventory once Tesla ramps up to its expected 3,000 Model Ys a week, this plus approximately 5,000 Model 3s a week means Tesla can deliver 32,000 vehicles a month.

That’s not quite enough to beat the Wuling’s current 36,000 a month, so it may depend on if demand for the Mini EV will be maintained as well, and if Wuling is planning a further ramp-up of production.

Coming back to the premium segment, Tesla clearly remains king but despite its price drop is also facing more competition, most recently in the form of the China-made ID Crozz electric SUV which the German-Chinese FAW-Volkswagen venture recently launched at a competitive price of 199,000 – 279,900 yuan ($A39,730 – $A55,874 converted).