Tesla Finds a Lifesaver as It Sells Two Months' Worth of Production in 21 Days

Different from domestic car companies, which usually hold at least two press conferences for a new car launch, Tesla's first six - seat car, the Model Y L, went on sale directly on the official website without any prior notice. Many Tesla salespeople also didn't receive any advance news before the launch.

In terms of price, the price of the Model Y L exceeded almost everyone's expectations. Goldman Sachs previously predicted its price to be 400,000 yuan, but the actual price is only 339,000 yuan. It has an extra row of seats compared to the Model Y Long Range All - Wheel Drive version and is only 20,000 yuan more expensive. Although it is only 800 yuan cheaper than the Li Auto L8, it is lighter, smaller, and has a longer range.

In Musk's view, the main goal of promoting the development of the electric vehicle industry has been achieved, and what remains are mostly more trivial matters, such as launching new models and catering to the sentiments of Wall Street analysts.

Whether it's Robotaxi or intelligent robots, they require massive capital investment, which still relies on the automotive business for funding. Tesla's sales growth has slowed down since 2023. It has lost the title of the world's top - selling brand and hasn't continuously launched new products like domestic car companies. Instead, it has been stimulating consumers' purchasing desire by continuously reducing prices, but the improvement effect is limited.

Data shows that in the second quarter of this year, Tesla delivered a total of 129,000 vehicles in the Chinese market, accounting for 34% of its total sales. Different from the past, this car was first launched in China and is considered a six - seat car specially designed for the Chinese who love SUV models. It is regarded as the key to saving Tesla's sales.

But in the highly competitive Chinese market, can Tesla's product competitiveness still hold up?

01

Sold out two - month production capacity in 21 days

Tesla, whose sales have been declining for a long time, finally had a moment to feel proud.

Early in the morning on August 19th, when most Tesla salespeople hadn't arrived at the stores yet, the Model Y L was already launched on the official website. "There were already orders in the work group before I even reached the store," said a salesperson.

Tesla's brand popularity remains strong. On the day the Model Y L's price was announced, it topped the trending list on Douyin. A Tesla salesperson in a new first - tier city said that he completed more than 10 orders on that day, and the whole store had more than 30 orders. Usually, a salesperson might only complete 1 order a day.

The day of a new car launch and the first weekend are usually the peak periods for orders. A salesperson in a second - tier city said that during the weekend when the car was just launched, he received more than 100 customers in the mall, and the repurchase rate of old customers was very high.

Although in the eyes of many car - buying users, the space of the Model Y L isn't large enough, and even adults may feel a bit crowded in the third row. However, since it's very rare to have six people in the car in real - life scenarios, it doesn't affect the enthusiasm for placing orders.

Moreover, the second and third rows can be completely folded down, and each seat can be controlled independently, making the space very flexible. Its size isn't exaggerated for urban commuting. An owner said that although there is no refrigerator, TV, or large sofa, safety comes first for family trips. The handling safety of Tesla made him finally place an order.

Tesla has not officially announced the sales volume so far. But more than one salesperson told Tech Planet that this new car is selling much better than expected. The Model Y L sold out its September production capacity in just 6 days and then sold out its October production capacity in 15 days. Tech Planet logged on to the Tesla official website and found that the delivery date of the Model Y L has been postponed to November.

The self - media account CheFans quoted a Tesla salesperson as saying that the launch of the Model Y L has had a great impact on the number of in - store visitors. It's not an exaggeration to say that the number has doubled. Most customers don't have any comparable models; they are just waiting for the YL, and this group accounts for more than 70%.

But currently, not all stores across the country can offer test drives. In many cities, several stores can only share one test car. Therefore, many car owners are still waiting to place an order after the test drive.

But after the production capacity was sold out, the situation changed a bit. A salesperson in a new first - tier city told Tech Planet that many customers are considering that they will have to pay at least 5% more in vehicle purchase tax next year, so many people are rushing to get the production capacity before the end of the year. After seeing that the October production capacity was sold out, many customers came to place orders on September 10th. There were about 20 orders in his store.

02

Special - edition model, betting on the Chinese market

Different from the Model 3 and Model Y, which are global models, the six - seat version of the Model Y L is a China - exclusive model.

In the era of fuel - powered cars, brands like Audi, BMW, and Volkswagen all had extended - wheelbase models specially customized for the Chinese market. In the era of new - energy vehicles, Chinese users' preference for large - space cars has only increased. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, in 2024, the cumulative retail sales of large and mid - large SUVs in the domestic market reached 1.646 million units, a year - on - year increase of 52.5%, and the market penetration rate reached 80%. This growth trend has continued into 2025.

While almost every domestic new - energy car company has launched large SUVs, Tesla has almost no presence in this segment. To maintain its market share, according to Tech Planet's statistics, the Model Y has had the most price cuts in China, and the prices of the Model Y and Model 3 are almost the lowest in the world. For example, the price of the rear - wheel - drive version of the Model Y in China is 7,000 yuan cheaper than in the United States and more than 100,000 yuan cheaper than in Europe.

Price cuts alone can't maintain sales. Tesla's sales started to decline in the first half of last year. In the second quarter of this year, Tesla had its worst performance since the launch of the Model Y in 2020. The second - quarter financial report showed a decline in both revenue and net profit. Revenue was 22.496 billion US dollars, a year - on - year decrease of 12%, and net profit also decreased by 16% to 1.172 billion US dollars. This is already the third consecutive quarter of profit decline for Tesla.

Different from its competitors, which launch more than one new model almost every year, Tesla's R & D cycle for new models is too long. Since the launch of the Model 3 and Model Y, there haven't been any real major facelifts. Even in the eyes of some consumers, Tesla's product design is not satisfactory, especially in terms of autonomous driving technology in the Chinese market.

When the highly - anticipated Xiaomi SU7 was launched, Lei Jun compared the parameters of the Tesla Model 3 and the SU7 on a whole page of PPT and said "humorously" that the standard version of the SU7 only lags behind the Model 3 in energy consumption and computing power.

A person in the automotive industry told Tech Planet that it takes 3 - 5 years or even longer for a traditional fuel - powered car to go from project initiation to launch. However, for new - energy vehicles, because of the simpler powertrain and more modular and platform - based designs, a new model can be developed in 2 - 3 years or even less. This allows competitors to more efficiently test the market reaction.

According to Tech Planet's statistics, since 2020, the sales proportion of Tesla in the Chinese market has been above 30%. In the second quarters of 2024 and 2025, the sales proportion in the Chinese market reached 37% and 36% respectively, which means that for every 3 Teslas sold, one is bought by a Chinese consumer. The lack of models and the lagging product competitiveness have weakened Tesla's competitiveness in the world's largest single market.

Note: Data is from Tesla's financial reports and the China Passenger Car Association. Chart made by Tech Planet.

The Model Y L, specially designed for Chinese users, is Tesla's weapon to boost sales. But this car didn't appear in Tesla's previous blueprint. A senior Tesla user said that this means that Tesla will gradually stop being a global - model - only brand and will start manufacturing and designing vehicles for different market segments. Especially in the Chinese market, more authorization will be given to the local Chinese design team to meet local needs.

03

Selling cars to replenish funds for robot development

Although the automotive sales business still accounts for more than 70% of the revenue, in Musk's eyes, compared with the cyclical and increasingly competitive electric vehicle business, the AI and robot business has greater potential. 80% of Tesla's long - term value in the future will come from the humanoid robot project Optimus.

Last week, Tesla founder Elon Musk talked about the latest situation of the Optimus robot at the All - In Summit, saying that the currently - designed third - generation Optimus will solve the problem of hand flexibility, have an AI brain, and is expected to achieve mass production. These three advantages are unmatched by all other competitors.

But there is still a long way to go to achieve Musk's vision of "liberating human labor." Fred Lambert, a commentator from the media Electrek, mocked the humanoid robot, saying it "can't even hold a bag of popcorn properly." In China, many embodied robots mainly provide emotional value, such as the popularity of Unitree robots in the rental market. Although this year is known as the first year of delivery, the delivery volume of leading companies is only about 2,000 units.

To support the grand vision that requires billions of dollars in investment, besides technical strength, it also needs funds. Selling cars is the foundation of Tesla. The financial report shows that Tesla's free cash flow was 2 billion US dollars in the fourth quarter of last year and only 150 million US dollars in the second quarter of this year. Therefore, it must rely on selling cars to replenish funds.

In Musk's plan, a total of 20 million Tesla cars will be delivered in the next 10 years. Taking the cumulative delivery of 8 million units as of June this year as a reference, it needs to deliver an average of 105,000 units per month in the future. For Tesla, this isn't an unattainable goal. In 2023, the year with the highest sales, Tesla delivered a total of 1.8086 million cars, with an average of 150,000 units per month. Although the sales volume dropped to 720,000 units in the first half of this year, it was still 120,000 units per month.

In other words, as long as Tesla maintains good product design and controllable production capacity, the probability of selling 20 million cars in the next 10 years isn't small. More importantly, Tesla's sales are starting to pick up. The head of Tesla's German factory, which supplies more than 30 markets, said last weekend that due to the very impressive sales data, the factory has increased its production plans for the third and fourth quarters.

The Future Fund analyst pointed out, "Every hedge fund realizes that Tesla's third - quarter delivery volume will exceed expectations. This is because buyers are rushing to buy cars before the expiration of the 7,500 - dollar electric vehicle subsidy on September 30th, which has led to the early release of fourth - quarter demand."

After all, in the eyes of many people, Musk's AI dream still faces numerous challenges, and Tesla is still a new - energy vehicle company.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Tech Planet" (ID: tech618). Author: Wang Lin. Republished by 36Kr with permission.