Tesla: -82.7% in sales in China amid diplomatic crisis
This page is translated from the original post "Tesla : -82,7% de ventes en Chine sur fond de crise diplomatique" in French.
- 08/04/2025 18:23
While BYD sold 45,100 electric cars in China during the first week of April 2025, Tesla dropped to 3,600 units.
Is this the first real blow dealt by Xi Jinping’s China to Tesla, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump since tensions with the United States hardened over tariff duties? US manufacturer experts will argue that it is only a weekly export phenomenon of cars to other Asian or European markets, but the problem is much deeper.
Indeed, Tesla is not the only Chinese manufacturer (yes, yes) exporting. BYD is now much larger and its appetite is exponential, month after month. Tesla, on the other hand, is the opposite. During the first week of April 2025, out of 169,000 registered electric vehicles (out of 337,000 vehicles of all types), only 3,600 were Tesla. Meanwhile, BYD registered 45,100 vehicles. XPENG follows with 7,500 cars, Li Auto with 6,200, Leapmotor with 5,400, Xiaomi with 5,100, Aito with 4,800, Deepal with 4,100… then Tesla, followed by Zeekr at 2,700, and Denza at 2,600.
Blame the holidays?
Factually, almost all manufacturers saw their sales decline due to a very popular vacation period in China. Thus, BYD fell 25% compared to the previous week… while XPENG increased by 21%. As for Tesla, the plunge is dizzying: -82.7%!
This level of Tesla’s sales is unprecedented, as previous weeks, even with the launch of the new Model Y, hovered between 15,000 and 21,000 weekly sales.
The Washington Post expressed concern about this economic situation, even revealing that Elon Musk and Donald Trump had a very heated exchange over their disagreement on tariff issues with China. The South African businessman, shareholder and leader of Tesla, finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. And China will give him no favors, even taking malicious pleasure in making him lose face in the eyes of the world.
Tesla’s fate in China may no longer be in its hands: entirely dependent on local subcontractors, the communist authorities could easily cut off deliveries to reduce the American manufacturer’s production to nothing. Not to mention the negative press already flooding local media.
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