China: Tesla Model Y Was #1 Selling New Energy Crossover/SUV In 2021

With nearly 170,000 sold, it was also ninth overall.

By: Mark Kane

Jan 14, 2022 at 12:43pm ET

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The Made-in-China (MIC) Tesla Model Y happened to be the best-selling New Energy crossover/SUV in China in 2021.

The data, recently released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), indicates that Tesla managed to sell 40,500 in December and 169,853 in the country last year.

* CPCA reports wholesale shipments, not registrations/customer deliveries.

According to CnEVPost, only one non-electric model was above the Tesla Model Y in December (Haval H6 with 41,456 units), while in 2021, the Model Y was ninth overall (first among premium models regardless of the powertrain).

For reference, the top New Energy Vehicles (plug-ins) in the crossover/SUV segment in China last year were:

Tesla Model Y: 169,853
BYD Song (BEV/PHEV): 104,244
Li ONE (EREV): 90,491
BYD Tang (BEV/PHEV): 50,116
NIO ES6: 41,474

That's an outstanding result that contributed to Tesla's total result of 70,602 Model 3/Model Y sold in China in December and 320,743 in 2021.

Sales of the Tesla Model 3 in China amounted to 30,102 (a new record) in December and over 150,000 in 2021 (almost 10% more than a year ago).

It seems that the Tesla Model Y gradually progresses to outsell the Tesla Model 3 (which happened also in the U.S. in 2021) and is becoming the top-selling all-electric car globally. Tesla's ambitious goal was to make the Model Y the best-selling car of any kind.

What do you think?

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In its Q1 2021 financial report, the company wrote:

"We believe Model Y can become not just a category leader, but also the best-selling vehicle of any kind globally."

We guess that it might happen in 2022 if Tesla will manage to successfully launch the production of the Model Y in Texas and in Germany, especially the upgraded versions with 4680-type cylindrical cells.