Tesla hits 2024 China sales high with 73,490 deliveries in November as exports plunge

In November, Tesla sold 73,490 cars in China, which was its best month this year. The export from the Giga Shanghai plant dropped to 5,366 vehicles, down 81% from 27,795 units in October and 68% from 16,928 units last year.

- 广告

For Tesla China, those are the lowest export numbers since June 2022. The US automaker sold 78,856 from its Shanghai Gigafactory in November (domestic sales + export).

Tesla previously stated that it focuses on producing cars for export during the first half of each quarter and shifts to production for the domestic (Chinese) market in the second half.

- 广告

This suggests Tesla should focus on domestic production in the first half of November and switch to export production in the second half. However, data show that Tesla broke the pattern and focused on production for the domestic market most of November rather than on exports.

In 2024 (Jan – Nov), Tesla sold 574,175 EVs in China. Giga Shanghai sold 822,894 EVs, which means 248,719 EVs went for export.

The ratio between domestic sales and exports in 2024 is 69.2% for domestic and 30.2% for export. In 2023, Tesla China exported 36.3% of its production, and in 2022, it was 38.1%.

- 广告

Tesla China sold 46,595 units of Model Y in November, contributing 60% of all sales. Model 3 contributed 40% of the sales, with 32,261 units sold. Those numbers include exports.

Most of the Model 3 is intended for export as its China sales are very low, and Model Y dominates Tesla’s domestic sales. For example, in October, Model 3 accounted for only 10% of Tesla China sales with 4,281 units. Model Y accounted for 90% of China’s sales, with 36,204 units.

The domestic breakdown of sales to particular models for November is not yet available.

Tesla’s all-electric vehicle market share was 9.7% in China in November, down 12% from previous year.