Tesla’s China-made EV sales surge in May as domestic market rebounds
Pedestrians walk past a Tesla store in Shanghai, China, on March 14, 2024.
Cost Photo | Nurfoto | Getty Images
Sales of Tesla’s China-made electric vehicle rose nearly 40% in May amid a broader recovery in the country’s EV market.
The automaker delivered 85,982 new energy vehicles in May from its Shanghai Gigafactory, where it produces Model 3 and Model Y units for China and various overseas markets. preliminary data It was released by the China Passenger Vehicle Association on Tuesday. This corresponds to an annual increase of 39.4% compared to the same period in 2025.
According to CPCA’s report, a total of 1.36 million passenger EVs were sold across China’s domestic EV manufacturers in May, up 12% year-on-year and 11% above April’s total. The CPCA said these figures indicate an “initial recovery” in the Chinese electric vehicle market, with sales of some other Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers increasing modestly during the month.
Tesla’s rival BYD It stopped the eight-month-long series of declines in sales volume in May. 376,990 deliveries The number of new energy passenger vehicles, a category that includes both battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, increased by 0.02% compared to the previous year. 376,930 units delivered last May.
Stellantis powered figures bounce engine and Geely’s Zeekr rose more than 80% in May. Nio saw a 62.3% year-on-year increase after launching its first flagship EV in more than two years.
Xiaomi reported More than 30,000 EV deliveries There was an annual increase of 7.1% in May. The technology giant launched YU7 GT SUV – A performance-oriented variant of the popular YU7 SUV, which set a lap record at the Nürburgring race track in Germany, making it the fastest production SUV.
A handful of Chinese automakers also reported year-on-year declines in sales; 18.4% for Li Auto and 4.1% for XPeng.
FSD problems
However, it remains unclear whether Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) capabilities will be available to mainstream consumers in China.
Local media outlet on May 29 Beijing News reported It has been revealed that Tesla is facing a lawsuit from a group of 10 Chinese car owners for falsely claiming that FSD (Supervised) features are available in China, despite not having received approval from Chinese regulators.
Tesla did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
—CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
