Visiting a Tesla store: The refreshed Model Y has received 200,000 orders, and efforts will be made to introduce the Cybertruck.
Text | Xu Caiyu; Editor | Li Qin
Is the Tesla Model Y, which has "never lost in the real world despite not always winning online", still on a winning streak?
This best - selling model, which sold 481,000 units in 2024, has received a facelift this year. On January 10th, Tesla announced that pre - orders for the new Model Y had begun. The rear - wheel drive version of the new Model Y has a range of 593 kilometers and is priced at 263,500 yuan; the long - range version has a range of 719 kilometers and is priced at 303,500 yuan.
Compared with the significant price increases in Tesla's previous model updates, the price of the Model Y this time has not fluctuated greatly. The price of the rear - wheel drive version has only increased by 13,600 yuan.
Behind Tesla's change in its usual practice, the situation in the Chinese market has changed.
The star product, Xiaomi SU7, surpassed the Tesla Model 3 for two consecutive months in December 2024 and January 2025, becoming the best - selling pure - electric sedan.
Tesla's long - held position as the best - selling brand is wavering, and this risk is increasing.
In 2025, domestic brands with a certain amount of experience will launch a new challenge to the Model Y with a series of new products.
Xiaomi, a brand comparable to Tesla in terms of brand power, will launch its SUV model YU7 between May and June; XPeng, which has seen an improvement in sales, has its mid - sized pure - electric SUV G7 on the list of new vehicles announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology;
The Zhijie R7 under Hongmeng Zhixing delivered 11,000 units in January this year, ranking first in the sales of pure - electric SUVs priced over 250,000 yuan; Li Auto, which has gained popularity in the family car market, will also launch its pure - electric model i7 this year.
This time, the Model Y is facing not just empty threats but real and intense competition.
Selling 100 Units per Store per Day, Is the New Model Y a Hit Again?
On February 26th, 2025, Tesla started delivering the facelifted Model Y, and exhibition cars and test - drive cars were simultaneously available at all its stores across the country.
Different from the enthusiastic scenes of queuing up for test - drives when the Xiaomi SU7 was launched, 36Kr visited four Tesla stores in Dongcheng District, Chaoyang District, and Daxing District in Beijing. There were not many visitors at the Tesla stores, and there was no need to queue for test - drive cars.
A real - shot of a Tesla store
However, the order situation of the new Tesla Model Y doesn't seem as sluggish as the store traffic. Multiple salespeople told 36Kr:
"From the start of pre - orders on January 10th to today, each store in Beijing can add about 100 new orders per day", "There is a national - scale data showing that the new Model Y has accumulated 200,000 orders".
However, a large number of the "200,000" orders are refundable. Before the delivery started, when users paid the deposit for the Model Y on the Tesla official website, there was a statement on the order page indicating that the deposit was refundable. But after the delivery started on February 26th, the statement "deposit refundable" disappeared.
After the exhibition cars and test - drive cars arrived at the stores, most of the visitors had already paid a 1,000 - yuan deposit. "There were quite a few blind pre - orders. These customers had been waiting for the real cars. As soon as we posted on WeChat Moments that the cars had arrived at the store, they came to see and test - drive the cars."
What is the conversion rate of these 200,000 orders after test - drives?
A Tesla insider told 36Kr, "The conversion rate of the long - range version will be higher. 'The delivery process of the standard rear - wheel drive version is accelerating. Some users who originally expected to pick up their cars in four weeks have now started to make appointments to pick up their cars'."
After the delivery started, the extended launch - period benefits gave Tesla a final push.
Users who placed orders between February 26th and 28th can still enjoy a two - year free extended warranty worth 8,000 yuan; they can purchase a Tesla home charging pile worth 5,200 yuan at a price of 1,299 yuan, or enjoy a preferential charging rate of 1 yuan per kilowatt - hour (the original price ranges from 2 to 3 yuan) at Tesla's official super - charging stations for 6 years/5,000 kilowatt - hours (equivalent to about 30,000 kilometers of driving).
Although there was no direct reduction in the car price, Tesla provided discounts of over 11,000 yuan through a combination of insurance and charging benefits. This attracted many users. A salesperson told 36Kr that the launch - period benefits in the last two days brought in dozens of new customers.
36Kr learned from Tesla's delivery center that in the first week after the delivery started, the national delivery volume of the new Model Y exceeded 6,000 units. The delivery volume in Beijing was only a few hundred units, while in the past, this number ranged from 1,000 to 3,000 units.
"It's only the first week now, and the production capacity will increase. Moreover, the current delivery cycle is basically scheduled for 4 - 6 weeks later", a Tesla insider told 36Kr.
However, Tesla's competitors don't seem to have shown a strong reaction.
36Kr visited stores of Hongmeng Zhixing, XPeng, Zeekr, etc. Different from past practices of posting configuration comparisons with the Model Y, "Our advantages are still very obvious", multiple salespeople of Hongmeng Zhixing told 36Kr.
Of course, the brand power and appeal of the new Model Y should not be underestimated.
An industry insider told 36Kr that after the launch of the facelifted Model Y, the senior management of LeDao compared the two cars in detail with CEO Li Bin, stating that the LeDao L60 had comprehensive advantages.
However, judging from the current order situation of the two cars, domestic new - energy vehicle companies still can't be overly optimistic.
FSD Is Available in China, but Tesla Doesn't Recommend Users to Buy It
Alongside the launch of the facelifted Model Y, Tesla also introduced its long - hidden trump card: FSD (Full Self - Driving).
On February 25th, Tesla pushed a software update centered around intelligent driving to some users in China. After this update, Tesla's assisted driving can achieve high - level functions such as traffic light recognition and U - turns.
A Tesla insider described this update as "After the update, your Tesla can drive you around on its own."
However, this update of high - level intelligent driving functions doesn't seem to have brought significant incremental sales to Tesla. Even Tesla's official sales staff don't want users to buy the FSD service immediately.
Illustration of Tesla FSD
"What has been updated now is not actually FSD, but a relatively high - level assisted driving. To be honest, we don't recommend that you buy it for 64,000 yuan right away", multiple Tesla salespeople admitted.
"Tesla's advanced assisted driving has just been updated. The current version is trained with overseas data and may not work well in China. You will be responsible for any accidents and traffic violations caused by it."
"You might as well observe for a while. It may become better in a week, or it may take two or three months. Moreover, the price of 64,000 yuan is too high. We will introduce a monthly subscription system for FSD. It's really not cost - effective to buy it now."
Different from domestic car companies that use intelligent driving as a major selling point, Tesla's sales strategy is to let users choose intelligent driving cautiously.
This may be a strategy of "praise after criticism".
After Tesla started pushing "FSD" in China, both the media and car owners have started evaluations. Li Xiang, the CEO of Li Auto, publicly stated that compared with Tesla FSD, the number of times the ideal AD Max needed to be taken over was significantly less.
Before localization is fully mature, choosing a conservative promotion strategy is actually a form of protection for Tesla FSD.
New Car Plan: The Cybertruck Reigniting Hope
Tesla has another big move this year, which is the Cybertruck.
A Tesla insider told 36Kr that one of Tesla's core goals in the Chinese market this year is to introduce the Cybertruck.
This pure - electric pickup truck has been very popular in recent years. Elon Musk once announced that the number of Cybertruck orders had exceeded one million; according to the calculations of third - party institutions, the number of Cybertruck orders has exceeded two million.
However, the delivery volume of the Cybertruck is not as impressive as the number of orders. According to overseas media and institutions, the total sales volume of the Cybertruck in 2024 may be between 35,000 and 50,000 units, far less than the one - million pre - order volume previously announced by the official.
The demand for pickup trucks in the Chinese market is indeed not large, but the innovative and forward - thinking spirit conveyed by the Cybertruck may re - arouse the attention of young consumers towards Tesla.
After all, Tesla initially won the love of a large number of consumers with such an image. However, as domestic brands continue to explore and progress, Tesla has now become a relatively "conservative" choice in the Chinese market.
In terms of price, configuration, and user experience, domestic cars have already matched or even surpassed Tesla. Although Tesla shouts the slogan of "feel free to compare", the Model Y and Tesla are indeed facing greater challenges and pressure.