China: Tesla Noticeably Increased EV Sales In March 2023

It was the second-best monthly wholesale sales result ever.

By: Mark Kane

Apr 10, 2023 at 3:59pm ET

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In March, Tesla noted one of the strongest months of EV sales in China so far - in many cases, not far from record levels.

According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA)'s data, the overall wholesale vehicle shipments (local retail sales and export) of Made-in-China (MIC) Model 3/Model Y amounted to 88,869 units, which is 35 percent more than a year ago, and the second highest result ever.

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

The only time when the total volume was higher was in November 2022 (100,291 units).

During the first quarter of 2023, the total volume amounted to 229,322 MIC cars, which is close to 26 percent more than a year ago, and a new quarterly record (Q4 2022 was 227,791).

Retail Sales in China

According to the data, last month, the company's local sales in China amounted to 76,663 MIC cars, which is 17 percent more than a year ago.

Tesla MIC retail sales in China are usually the highest in the final month of a quarter (the first half of a quarter is usually focused on export).

So far this year, Tesla sold more than 137,000 MIC electric cars in China, which is 27 percent more than a year ago. In other words, there are no signs of a slowdown.

Export

According to the report, last month, 12,206 Tesla MIC cars were exported (compared to zero a year ago, when there were lockdown issues).

Tesla usually exports the highest number of cars in the first month of a quarter, and then a substantial number of cars also in the second month of a quarter.

Interestingly, exports during the first quarter of the year, increased by 24 percent year-over-year to almost 92,000 units.

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Models

Tesla produces in Shanghai two MIC models - Model 3 and Model Y (both in various versions). In March, the Tesla Model 3 wholesale (retail sales in China plus export) amounted to 27,202, while the Tesla Model Y amounted to 61,667.

The local retail sales amounted to respectively 21,726 (down 16.5 percent year-over-year) and 54,937 (up 38 percent year-over-year and a new monthly record). The Tesla Model Y quite significantly outsells the Model 3.