Tesla China sales halve in February as global rebellion against Musk accelerates

The sale of Teslas made in China dropped by half in February, adding to the company’s already mounting litany of woes, as its stock price continues its plunge and the burgeoning trade wars with the United States continue to unsettle a company already flummoxed by its CEOs politics.

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released wholesale numbers for February, revealing that Tesla China only sold 30,688 vehicles in February – a combination of those sold in China and exported from China to overseas markets.

This represented a decline of 49.16 per cent from the 60,365 sold in February 2024, and a 51.47 per cent decline from the 63,238 sold in January 2025.

Across the first two months of the year, Tesla China has sold 93,926 vehicles, including exports, representing a 28.74 per cent decrease from the 131,812 sold in the same period last year.

Local automotive outlet CnEVPost attributes the decline in February sales numbers to “the impact of the Chinese New Year holiday and reported production line adjustments”.

The Chinese New Year holiday ran from January 28 to February 4 this year – which always delivers a slight hit to production and deliveries – and Bloomberg reported in mid-January that Tesla would suspend part of the lines manufacturing the recently refreshed Model Y in Shanghai across a three-week period over the holiday “so it can better optimise equipment”.

Quoting “people familiar with the matter”, Bloomberg reported that the three-week halt was designed to better prepare the production lines to ramp production for the facelifted Model Y.

While Tesla’s February sales numbers in China may, therefore, have little to do with the widespread problems sparked by the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, the US administration’s decision to impose a further 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods being imported into the country is expected to further confuse the situation.

It also comes amid widening protests against the Tesla brand because of Musk’s politics, and a sharp slump in its share price, which has now lost all the gains made after the shock success of Trump at last November’s election.

From a 2025 high of $US428.22 at close of business on December 16, Tesla shares are currently trading at around the $US284 mark, a decline of 33 per cent, and taking it back to its level before the election victory.

Sentiment around the stock has not been helped by the actions of Tesla chair Robyn Denholm, an Australian business executive, who has reportedly liquidated $US117 million in stock in total over the past three months, including $US33.7 million in the last few days.

Demonstrations sprang up over the weekend across the United States, and internationally, at Tesla dealerships and showrooms, protesting Elon Musk’s controversial, and at times unconstitutional efforts to slash government spending through the so-called department of government efficiency (DOGE).

And while China’s February sales numbers appear to represent the national holiday and production retooling, the same cannot be said for European sales numbers.

As was reported earlier this week, sales of Tesla vehicles continued to fall in February across Scandinavia and France – declines which are expected to be mirrored again and again as more national numbers are released in the coming days.

Canadian prime ministerial candidate Chrystia Freeland, who recently served as deputy prime minister to the outgoing Justin Trudeau, proposed in early February a plan to impose a 100 per cent tariff on all Teslas coming in to Canada in response to tariffs imposed by the US, and applauded by Musk.

Speaking to Erin Burnett on CNN, Freeland promised to “go after American stakeholders who matter to the White House.”

“I have proposed a 100 per cent tariff on all Teslas,” Freeland continued.

“I am calling on all the countries that are affected by this tariff to join us and our retaliation will target specific Trump constituencies, another group that we’re going to go after is Wisconsin dairy farmers. We know how important they are for the president, and were not going to let them sell their products in Canada anymore.”