Tesla's China-made EV sales jump nearly 40% in May as domestic market rebounds

In May, Tesla experienced a remarkable boost in sales of its China-produced electric vehicles, with deliveries soaring nearly 40% as the overall electric vehicle market in the country began to recover. The automaker reported delivering 85,982 new energy vehicles from its Shanghai Gigafactory, which manufactures the Model 3 and Model Y for both domestic and international markets, according to preliminary data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). This represents a 39.4% increase compared to the same month last year. The CPCA also noted that a total of 1.36 million passenger electric vehicles were sold by domestic manufacturers in May, marking a 12% year-on-year growth and an 11% rise from April's figures, signifying an initial rebound in China’s EV market. Several other Chinese electric vehicle makers also reported positive sales trends in May. BYD ended an eight-month sales decline with 376,990 new energy vehicle deliveries, a slight increase over the 376,930 units sold during the same month last year. Leapmotor, backed by Stellantis, and Geely's Zeekr both saw sales jump by over 80%. Nio, after launching its first flagship electric vehicle in more than two years, recorded a 62.3% year-on-year sales increase. Xiaomi also reported delivering over 30,000 EVs, which is a 7.1% rise compared to last May, aided by the debut of its fast YU7 GT SUV. Conversely, some manufacturers faced declines, with Li Auto and XPeng reporting drops of 18.4% and 4.1%, respectively. Tesla's sales growth in May coincided with the company's advancements in its self-driving technology. Earlier in the month, Tesla hinted at plans for a broader rollout of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system in China. On May 21, following a summit involving US and Chinese leaders, Tesla announced on X that it had made its FSD (Supervised) system available in the country. However, the details surrounding the availability of Tesla's FSD features for the general public remain unclear, particularly after reports surfaced about a lawsuit from a group of ten Chinese car owners alleging that Tesla misrepresented the accessibility of its FSD features, which had not yet received regulatory approval. Tesla has not yet commented on these claims.