Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- 😊 Tesla China’s insurance registrations for vehicles reached 17,000 units in the week ending August 27, 2023.
- 📈 This marks a 22.3% increase from the previous week’s 13,900 insurance registrations.
- 🚗 The insurance registration figures provide insights into Tesla’s weekly vehicle sales in China.
- 🇨🇳 The rise in insurance registrations may be due to Tesla’s efforts to promote its locally produced vehicles.
- 📅 Tesla China’s insurance registrations in August’s second and third weeks remained flat.
- 📊 With 17,000 units registered last week, Tesla China’s insurance registrations for August reached 56,400 units.
- 🛡️ Tesla China started offering insurance subsidies for Model 3 inventory vehicles to boost demand.
- 📢 Some customers are waiting for the release of the Model 3’s Project Highland update, affecting sales choices.
- 🚙 SAIC Volkswagen in China also lowered prices on SUV models to increase demand.
- 🔥 Price competition between Tesla and SAIC Volkswagen is intensifying in China’s market.
- 🌐 The price war extends to fossil fuel car sales, with impacts on automakers’ strategies.
- 📝 The China Association of Manufacturers brokered a short-lived truce between Tesla and Chinese automakers to end the price war.
Tesla’s domestic sales within China appear to be gaining momentum, evidenced by a surge in insurance registrations for their vehicles, reaching 17,000 units during the week ending on August 27, 2023. This figure marks a noteworthy 22.3% improvement compared to the 13,900 insurance registrations recorded by industry analysts in the preceding week.
While Tesla China doesn’t disclose its weekly sales data for the region, insights into the company’s weekly vehicle sales can be gleaned from the count of insurance registrations reported nationwide. Fortunately, entities like Li Auto have undertaken the task of monitoring and releasing weekly insurance registration statistics, offering a comprehensive overview of the weekly performance of various automakers operating in China.
Tesla’s insurance registrations in the week ending August 27 are particularly impressive since they represent an improvement over numbers that were already quite satisfactory. In August’s second and third week, Tesla China’s insurance registrations were flat, with 14,000 units being registered in the week ending August 13 and 13,900 units being registered in the week ending August 20.
With 17,000 units being registered last week, it would appear that Tesla China’s insurance registrations have reached 56,400 units this month so far.
The rise in Tesla’s insurance registrations in China could partly be attributed to the company’s efforts to push its domestically produced vehicles to local consumers. On August 14, for example, Tesla China started offering insurance subsidies for Model 3 inventory vehicles. This may have pushed some demand for the all-electric sedan, whose sales are likely weighed down by the anticipation surrounding the impending release of the vehicle’s Project Highland update.
A previous report from China Securities Journal has claimed that some Tesla stores are already encouraging customers to place pre-orders for the Model 3. The report claimed that Model 3 customers are given the option to either take delivery of a current-generation Model 3 sedan with several incentives or wait for a Project Highland unit with fewer incentives. As per the Journal, more Model 3 customers are opting to wait for the release of Project Highland.
