Tesla China's average daily sales increase 76% year-on-year after price cut
According to CMBI data from China Merchants International, Tesla sold 12,654 cars in China in the past week, Jan. 9-15, after a price cut, with average daily sales up 76 percent year-over-year from the same period in 2022. But while overall auto sales in China fell 14.5 percent year-over-year this past week, new energy vehicle sales rose 36.5 percent, the data show.
Citi analyst Jeff Chung said Tesla's price cut led to a large number of cancellations of orders for many Chinese brand cars, with many consumers turning to Tesla. Data from CMBI shows that Xpeng car sales fell 36 percent year-over-year that week, but BYD performed solidly, more than doubling year-over-year sales to 40,435 units.
On January 6 Tesla ushered in a significant price cut of up to RMB 48,000, with the Model 3 starting at just RMB 229,900. On the day of the price cut, Tesla's Vice President Tao Lin wrote in a Weibo post, "Behind Tesla's price adjustment covers countless engineering innovations, essentially the unique Law of Excellent Cost Control".
In 2023 China's new energy subsidies will be abolished, many car companies announced price increases, or to ensure that no price increases to maintain the original price of the situation, Tesla buck the market significant price reductions, giving competitors no small pressure. Currently, only Huawei Technologies-backed electric vehicle (EV) brands AITO and Xpeng are following in Tesla's footsteps, with the AITO brand models dropping by up to RMB 30,000. The Xpeng P7 starts at only RMB 209,900, which is even cheaper than the Model 3.
