Tesla fails to keep up with China’s fast-growing EV sector amid escalating price war, posts declining February sales
- Tesla’s ‘lacklustre deliveries’ in the first two months of 2024 show that even market leaders have to offer discounts to sustain sales growth, Shanghai analyst says
- US carmaker’s sales in January and February eclipsed by year-on-year growth of 37 per cent achieved by China’s EV sector as a whole
The US carmaker’s Gigafactory in Shanghai handed over 30,141 Model 3s and Model Ys to mainland customers last month, a year-on-year decline of 24.4 per cent, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association on Friday. In contrast, Tesla delivered 39,881 units in January, a year-on-year increase of 48.6 per cent.
Altogether, Tesla has delivered 70,022 units in the first two months of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 15.2 per cent.
But it has largely been eclipsed by year-on-year growth of 37 per cent achieved by the mainland EV sector as a whole. EV assemblers sold a total of 1.06 million units in China between January and February, compared to 770,610 cars in the same period last year.
“Price competition has increased pressure on Tesla and other leading players in a cutthroat market,” said Eric Han, a senior manager at Suolei, an advisory firm in Shanghai. “Lacklustre deliveries in the first two months show that even market leaders like Tesla will have to offer discounts to sustain sales growth.”
