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According to, Tesla sold more than 55000 vehicles in China in May, up 77% from the previous month and 30% from a year earlier. Tesla China's wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles, including exports, were 72573 in May and 62167 in April. Although Tesla's sales in China increased in May compared with the same period last year and month-on-month, there is still a big gap compared with BYD's sales. Data show that BYD sold 331817 vehicles in May, up 38.13% from a year earlier, with cumulative sales of 1271325 vehicles from January to May this year.

In fact, the slow growth of Tesla's sales is understandable. First of all, in terms of models, the models currently on sale by Tesla are Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X and Cybertruck. The main models sold in China are Model Y and Model 3. Among them, the Model Y model supports the entire sales of Tesla in the Chinese market.

According to relevant data, Tesla sold 132420 vehicles in China from January to March this year, of which Model Y sales accounted for nearly 80%, compared with 100366 Model Y sales in China in the first quarter. As another Model 3 model, it sold 32054 vehicles in China in the first quarter. Of course, Tesla's slow sales growth has something to do with the slow upgrading of his models. Normally, a fuel-fueled car will be changed in about three years and replaced in about six years. The frequency of switching to an electric car is naturally much faster. For example, the modification of domestic electric cars is generally about two years, and the replacement is about four years. Tesla launched Model 3 in 2016, but it took seven years to introduce the revamped model, which is obviously too slow.

Secondly, with the rapid development of new energy vehicles, new energy vehicle companies are also speeding up the launch of new products, Tesla is no longer the only choice. At the same time, since 2024, there has been a price war in the market of new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles. Of course, Tesla is also following the price war. On January 1st, Tesla announced the "price reduction" promotion! However, the sales volume brought about by the price reduction is not obvious, and in order to stimulate sales, Tesla has news that several models are about to rise in price. In March, media reported that according to Tesla's internal news in China, the price of Tesla's Model Y model will be increased by 5000 yuan from April 1st. at the same time, the current official car insurance subsidy policy of 8000 yuan and a maximum of 10000 yuan of car paint relief policy will also expire on March 31. The move is also seen by industry insiders as Tesla's behavior to reverse stimulate sales.

Recently, Tesla also released the first quarter financial report data to the public. Data show that Tesla's operating income in the first quarter was US $21.301 billion, down 8.69% from the same period last year and 15.36% from the previous month, which was lower than market expectations. Profit data are even less satisfactory. Tesla's first-quarter net profit was $1.13 billion, down 55.07% from a year earlier and below market expectations of $1.9 billion. Tesla's gross profit margin was 17.4% in the first quarter, down from 19.3% in the same period last year.

In this regard, after the release of the financial results, Tesla CEO Musk also revealed that he will speed up the launch of more affordable models, and cheap models are expected to be put on the market in early 2025, even in late 2024. In addition, there is also a new high-performance version of Model 3, which starts at 335900 yuan and will be delivered in the middle of this month.

As for the poor sales in the first quarter, Tesla CEO Musk has responded that BYD's sales are down 42% from the previous quarter, and the first quarter is a difficult season for everyone. With the launch of the new high-performance version of Model 3, Tesla's sales in China are expected to further increase. However, the automobile industry is concerned that the rate of increase in sales is still limited, the arrival of cheap models or the tipping point of Tesla's sales growth.

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