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Daniel Ren

Yujie Xue

Tesla, faced with a shrinking market share in mainland China, plans to follow the lead of its local rivals by rolling out larger and longer-range variants of its Shanghai-made vehicles to entice consumers.
A six-seat Model Y and an upgraded edition of the Model 3 that has an 800km driving range were likely to strengthen the US carmaker’s mainland deliveries in the coming months, but it might not be sufficient to regain its dominance in the country’s premium electric vehicle (EV) segment, according to dealers and analysts.
Tesla was expected to begin delivering the refreshed Model 3 and Model Y to mainland customers as early as September.
“Tesla has learned a lesson from its Chinese rivals – luring consumers with updated editions,” said Tian Maowei, a sales manager at Yiyou Auto Service in Shanghai. “It pins hope on the new tactic to adapt to the changing consumer trends in the market.”
According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), Tesla’s share of the mainland EV market fell to 3.8 per cent in June from 6.9 per cent a year earlier. The company’s EV sales accounted for 16 per cent of the national total in 2020, when its Shanghai Gigafactory opened.
The Shanghai factory, Tesla’s largest production hub worldwide, builds only fully electric Model 3 and Model Y sport-utility vehicles.
In June, the Gigafactory handed 61,484 vehicles to Chinese buyers, up 3.8 per cent year on year.
Before that, Tesla had been stuck in a downward spiral in China, the world’s largest automotive and EV market, since late 2024, with deliveries dropping for eight consecutive months from October last year to May.
“Chinese drivers and passengers prefer spacious cars and are willing to embrace new designs and technologies used in digital cockpits and driver assistance systems,” said David Zhang, secretary general of the International Intelligent Vehicle Engineering Association. “Tesla has to make changes to enhance its competitiveness in this dynamic market.”
The six-seat SUV, known as Model Y L, is close to 5 metres in length with a wheelbase of 3.04 metres, slightly longer than the standard version, according to details published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
With three rows of seats, it represents Tesla’s most substantial update of its Chinese-made models to date.
The Model Y is currently configured with five seats in two rows for the China market, while its refreshed version in North America comes with seven seats, with two of them – described by some on social media as “barely able to fit a large dog” – squeezed into a third row.
A six-seat configuration for the China market would balance capacity with spaciousness, putting two seats in each of the three rows and collapsing the middle seat in the second row to make it easier for passengers to exit, according to some media reports.
The Model Y, priced from 263,500 yuan (US$36,800) to 313,500 yuan, outsold all other SUVs, including petrol-powered rivals, in mainland China in 2024, with more than 480,000 deliveries, the CPCA said.
But it is now facing a challenge from the YU7, a pure electric SUV developed by Chinese smartphone and EV maker Xiaomi, which received 200,000 pre-orders in just three minutes after bookings opened in late June.
The MIIT website showed that Tesla’s coming Model 3+, fitted with LG Energy Solution’s higher-performance battery and a single motor with stronger peak power, could beat Tesla’s existing long-range Model 3, which can go as far as 753km on a charge.
Tesla has not unveiled the prices of the two refreshed vehicles.
On Wednesday, the Austin, Texas-based carmaker reported adjusted earnings per share and revenue figures for the second quarter that fell short of Wall Street consensus estimates. Tesla has said it would build more affordable models in the second half of 2025.


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Carmaker expects to begin delivering the models to mainland customers as early as September


Carmaker expects to begin delivering the models to mainland customers as early as September.


Tesla seeks a comeback in China with refreshed Model 3 and Model Y

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Carmaker expects to begin delivering the models to mainland customers as early as September

Carmaker expects to begin delivering the models to mainland customers as early as September