A Model Y vehicle on display at a Tesla flagship store on Jan. 4, 2021 in Shanghai, China.
Gao Yuwen | Visual China Group | Getty Images
BEIJING – Tesla’s Model Y is off to a solid start in China, less than three months since the start of delivery.
The midsize SUV was the third best-selling electric car in February with 4,630 vehicles, according to data released Wednesday by the China Passenger Car Association. Taking January into account, the data showed that the car was the ninth best seller among new energy vehicles, a category that also includes electric cars.
Tesla announced on New Year’s Day that its China-made Model Y would start shipping at a price that was 30% cheaper than previously announced, according to Chinese media.
Model Y was popular, although car sales typically drop during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, which was in February this year.
According to the association, passenger car sales across the country fell 45.5% in February from January. For the first two months of the year, that data showed that nearly 3.34 million passenger cars were sold in China, with new energy vehicles accounting for 7.5%.
Chinese electric car startups Xpeng and Li Auto both announced a sharp drop in deliveries in February to just over 2,000 vehicles each and low forecasts for the first quarter. Rival Nio led the group with about double the February deliveries and a much higher expectation for the quarter.
The vehicles of the three Chinese start-ups are among the top 15 new energy cars sold in China in the first two months of the year, according to data from the passenger car association.
Tesla’s Model 3 takes second place
But the start-ups are lagging behind larger automakers in the Chinese electric vehicle market.
First place went to the Hongguang Mini, a low-cost electric miniature car developed by General Motors’ joint venture with Wuling Motors and the state-owned SAIC Motor.
Tesla’s Model 3 sedan, which was the best-selling electric car in China last year, was in second place for February and the first two months of the year, according to the association’s data.
In third place for January and February combined was BYD’s luxury Han sedan, the data showed. Available in both pure electric and hybrid versions, the vehicle has grown enormously in popularity since its launch last summer.
Because of their confidence in self-reporting, some in the Chinese auto industry have expressed doubts about the accuracy of the association’s figures.