Tesla electric vehicle sales in China saw a YoY growth of 76% to 12,654 from January 9 to 15, InsideEVs reports citing China Merchants Bank International (CMBI). It apparently occurred after the price cuts on its best-selling EVs earlier this month.
Another report also stated that the EV giant’s retail sales in China increased in early January after the price cuts of up to 5.7 to 13.5%.
Tesla’s 76% sales growth
It is worth noting that Tesla had 19,346 MIC Model 3 and Model Y sales in January 2022. It also reported an export of 40,499 units last year.
Given that the estimated growth was 76%, then we can antipate 34,000 unit sales.
The report highlights that the figure is lower than December’s result of 41,926. Nonetheless, it recorded a new high for the automaker’s first month of a quarter, given that Tesla usually prioritizes exports during this time.
What does this mean?
The sales growth implies a positive result for Tesla, given that China’s average car sales saw a 14.5% decline during that period. Meanwhile, the sales of xEVs (electric or hybrid vehicles) grew 36.5%.
The report suggests that Tesla is succeeding in the xEVs segment while the market is declining.
Unfortunately, Tesla has not yet responded to a statement on CMBI’s data.
How does it affect Chinese rivals?
In contrast, Xpeng sales saw a YoY decline of 36% from January 9 to 15, according to CMBI. This result explains the Chinese automaker’s sudden price cuts in China.
Meanwhile, BYD‘s sales grew by two-fold, with a YoY increase to 40,435 within the same seven days. In January 2022, the Chinese automaker reported sales of about 93,000. Meanwhile, its latest sales and production rate overly surpassed 200,000 a month.
Remarkably, there are currently no New Energy Vehicle brands that can compete with BYD, according to the list released by Moneyball:
Analysts had previously asserted that Tesla’s price reductions were indicators of decreasing demand and escalating competition in the largest auto market in the world. Tesla nevertheless managed to increase sales during that time, succeeding in its primary objective.
Tesla followed its price reductions in China and other Asian markets with price reductions in the US and the EU.
