Tesla sells 74,127 cars in China in Mar, exports 4,701 from Shanghai plant (2025)

• Tesla sold 74,127 vehicles in China's domestic market in March, up 18.80 percent year-on-year and up 176.83 percent from February.
• In the first quarter, Tesla's retail sales in China were 134,607 units, up 1.65 percent year-on-year.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) saw a significant rebound in retail sales in China last month, as the slow season at the start of the year fades away.

Tesla China sold 78,828 vehicles in March, including 4,701 for export, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

That means the US electric vehicle (EV) maker sold 74,127 vehicles in China's domestic market in March, up 18.80 percent from 62,398 a year earlier and up 176.83 percent from 26,777 in February, CnEVPost calculations show.

Tesla has a factory in Shanghai that produces the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, both for deliveries to local customers and as an export hub for it.

Tesla's pattern is to produce cars for export in the first half of the quarter and for the local market in the second half, it previously said.

Exports from the Shanghai plant in March were down 82.37 percent from 26,666 in the same month last year, while up 20.20 percent from 3,911 in February.

Tesla China's overall sales including exports in March were down 11.49 percent from 89,064 a year ago while up 156.87 percent from 30,688 in February.

Including exports, Tesla China's wholesale sales of Model Y in March were 49,029 units, a decrease of 14.86 percent from 57,586 units in the same month last year, but an increase of 510.42 percent from 8,032 units in February.

Wholesale sales of Model 3, including exports, were 29,799 units, a decrease of 5.33 percent from 31,478 units in the same month last year, but an increase of 31.53 percent from 22,656 units in February.

China's passenger new energy vehicle (NEV) retail sales in March were 991,000 units, up 37.93 percent year-on-year and up 44.46 percent from February, according to the CPCA.

BEV retail sales in March were 646,000 units, up 50.93 percent year-on-year and up 51.29 percent from February.

This means that Tesla contributed 7.48 percent of China's passenger NEV retail sales and 11.47 percent of BEV retail sales in March.

In the first quarter, Tesla's retail sales in China were 134,607 units, up 1.65 percent year-on-year, but down 31.64 percent from the fourth quarter of 2024.

This contributed 39.98 percent of Tesla's 336,681 global deliveries in the first quarter.

Its Shanghai factory exported 38,147 units in the first quarter, down 56.87 percent year-on-year.