Tesla’s February China Sales Halve

Tesla’s wholesale sales in China fell sharply in February, while local giant BYD surged ahead in the world’s largest electric vehicle market. CEO Elon Musk remains optimistic, even though Tesla shares have fallen 28% in a month, the first time in more than two years.

Image source: tesla.com

Tesla sold 30,688 electric vehicles in China in February 2025, down 49% from the previous February, according to preliminary statistics from the China Passenger Car Association. By comparison, Tesla shipped 63,238 units from its Shanghai factory in January, a traditionally slow month due to the Chinese New Year holiday. Meanwhile, BYD sold more than 318,000 electric and hybrid vehicles in February, up 161% year-on-year. Retail sales are an indicator of consumer activity, and shipments are closely tied to production.

Tesla had a tough year in China. For the first time since it launched mass production in Shanghai in 2020, the company recorded a drop in annual deliveries from the plant, reflecting weak global demand and increased local competition. Tesla sold 1.79 million electric vehicles worldwide in 2024, below its 2023 figures and analysts’ forecasts. BYD, which stopped producing cars running exclusively on fossil fuels back in 2022, sold 1.76 million pure electric vehicles in 2024, and together with hybrids, it sold 4.25 million vehicles. In February, wholesale sales of new energy vehicles in China increased by 82% year-on-year.

Tesla’s problems are no longer limited to China: the company’s shares fell 28% in February, the steepest drop since December 2022. On Monday, they lost 3% of their value, and the market capitalization fell to $915 billion. In public, Musk remains optimistic: last weekend, he allowed that Tesla’s profits will grow by 1000% in the next five years – he was supported by Morgan Stanley, which called the company its favorite in the American auto industry segment. During the quarterly report, it became known that Tesla’s revenue from electric vehicles fell by 8% and operating income by 23%. The company attributed these results to a decrease in the average selling price for the Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X lines. The company is also unlucky in Europe: in the first two months of 2025, the number of new Tesla registrations in France and Scandinavia fell, and sales in Germany in January fell by about 60% year-on-year.