On February 26, Tesla started delivering the revamped Model Y, with show cars and test-drive vehicles available in stores nationwide.

According to Chinese media outlet 36Kr, several sales staff in Beijing said that "Since pre-orders started on January 10, each store in Beijing has received about 100 new orders per day. Nationally, the new Model Y has accumulated 200,000 orders."

Many of these 200,000 orders, however, are refundable. Before deliveries began, customers paid a deposit for the Model Y on Tesla's official website, and the order page indicated that the deposit was refundable.

But after deliveries started on February 26, the refundable deposit statement was removed.

Once show cars and test-drive vehicles were available, most customers visiting the stores had already paid a 1,000 yuan deposit.

"There were many blind orders; these customers have been waiting for the actual cars.

Once we posted on social media about the cars arriving at the store, they came to see and test drive them."

This pre-order volume is consistent with previous reports on January 24 from another salesperson in Guangzhou that Tesla had already accumulated 100,000 pre-orders through the first two weeks of launch.

That also follows a claim by automotive blogger @长三角行健者 that Tesla China had received over 50,000 pre-orders on launch day, January 10.

Order Conversion Rate

36Kr also learned that the conversion rate for the long-range version is anticipated to be higher.

"The delivery process for the standard rear-wheel-drive version is accelerating, and some customers who were expected to get their cars after four weeks have already started scheduling their deliveries."

Tesla also extended the “first week delivery benefits” to give a final pre-order push.

Customers who placed orders between February 26 and 28 were still eligible for two years of free extended warranty worth 8,000 CNY; Tesla's home charging station for 1,299 CNY (original price 5,200 CNY); or enjoy six years of supercharger service (5,000 kWh, approximately 30,000 km mileage) at Tesla's official supercharging stations for 1 yuan per kWh (original price 2-3 yuan per kWh).

Although there has been no direct price reduction, Tesla has offered more than 11,000 CNY in discounts through insurance and charging packages.

This attracted many customers through the final two days of first week benefits led to dozens of new orders.

Delivery

36Kr also learned from Tesla's delivery center that in the first week after deliveries began, over 6,000 new Model Y were delivered nationwide (February 26 - March 5).

In Beijing, only a few hundred were delivered, compared to the usual 1,000 - 3,000 units per week.

"It's just the first week, and production capacity is still ramping up. The current delivery cycle is scheduled for 4-6 weeks," a Tesla representative said.

March Outlook

Since early 2024, Tesla Model Y sales in China have stabilized at slightly below the 40,000 level based on last twelve month average of retail sales.

However, Tesla China hit a trough in sales in February, delivering only a total of 30,688 wholesale units (domestic and export sales) of Model Y and 3, which represents a 49.2% YoY slump.

However, with 200,000 pre-orders on hand, albeit mostly refundable, and a production capacity of up to 750,000 Model Y annually, according to a former Tesla store manager, we can expect a stark contrast in sales compared to February.

In 2024, Tesla delivered a total of 480,000 Model Y in China, ranking first among all EV models.

36Kr had previously learned that Tesla’s internal sales forecast sits at 520,000 units of Model Y in 2025.