Tesla's Aggressive Price Drop in China Makes Sense

Tesla is reducing its prices in several regions

Tesla (edited by Not a Tesla App)

Tesla stock price is down, deliveries missed expectations last quarter, and significant price drop — in China. Those are the major concerns swirling around the electric car manufacturer as investors took to Twitter to complain about the slash in prices overseas. However, there is a significant difference between the EV market in China compared to most other regions worldwide, especially North America.

Tesla dominates the market almost everywhere, except China. Unlike the dinosaurs in the North American automotive sector, Chinese car manufacturers have been developing and producing electric vehicles for a long time. While Tesla has had countries like the United States and Canada all to themselves for buyers wanting an electric vehicle, it’s not so easy in China. Telsa has to convince consumers to try something other than the BYD Song Plus or the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV.

Tesla has Competition in China

BYD started up in China in 2003, and by 2008 it was building the best-selling hybrid cars in the country. In 2009, several years after the carmaker achieved the top sales in the country. BYD was then converted to a fully electric vehicle, making it much easier for buyers to adapt to EVs while sticking with the brand they already trusted.

Then there is the horrendously ugly and ridiculously cheap Wuling Hongguang Mini EV. At a starting point of $4,500, anyone can hope no one sees them in this EV. The automaker hit the China market hard starting in 2020 and has not surpassed 500,000 deliveries.

Tesla’s main competitors have two particularly important advantages, BYD has brand loyalty, and Wuling Hongguang Mini EV is cheap. Therefore, it only makes sense that Tesla is aggressive. The Model 3 is now the cheapest it has ever been in China, and the Model Y has become much more affordable.

Tesla Cuts Prices

The company already dropped prices a few months ago, and now it's dropping them again. A RWD Model 3 is now $33,500 USD, when it was nearly $39,000; the same car in the United States goes for about $47,000. The RWD Model Y (not available in North America) is now $37,800 USD, down from about $42,000.

Following the announcement in China, Tesla has followed with reducing the prices in several other regions as well. The prices of the Model 3 and Model Y have been reduced in Australia, with price reductions in the 2-4% range, depending on the model.

In addition to China and Australia, Japan is also seeing the price of the Model Y reduced by up to 10%.

While these prices may be tough to swallow for someone in North America, consider that Tesla constantly changes prices to match what the market will pay. This practice has removed the slimy car salesman tactics that plagued the industry for decades. So, while it may seem unfair, Tesla owners must understand that the company doing well in all markets worldwide is vital to its survival as more competition emerges.

It's also possible that we'll see some price reductions in the U.S. as well. With the EV tax credit going into effect this January, Tesla aims to allow as many models to qualify as possible.

Elon Musk Takes Over Tesla Sales For North America and Europe

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Following the recent departure of longtime deputy Omead Afshar, Elon Musk has stepped up to personally oversee Tesla’s sales operations in North America and Europe, according to a new report from Bloomberg, which cites people familiar with the matter.

This is a big shake-up that places Elon directly in charge of fixing Tesla’s sales slump in two key markets. The move has come as Tesla reported nearly on-the-ball deliveries for Q2 2025, hitting 384k deliveries, against a consensus street estimate of 385k deliveries.

New Leadership Structure

According to the report, Afshar’s former responsibilities are being divided between Elon and Senior VP Tom Zhu. Elon will now directly oversee the sales organizations in the US and Europe. As part of this change, Troy Jones, Tesla’s VP of North America Sales, will now report to Elon.

Tom Zhu, who is based in China, will continue to manage sales in Asia while also taking on the critical new responsibility of overseeing global manufacturing operations. Leadership of Tesla’s factories in Fremont, California, and Texas will now report to Tom. Tesla Energy’s factories will still report to Michael Snyder, VP of Energy and Charging.

For now, we’re unsure whether this is a temporary management structure, if the reporting lines will shift, or if Tesla will either hire or promote a new Senior VP of Sales to cover the duties.

Tackling the Sales Slump

The restructuring is a response to the recent downturn in sales. Analysts estimated that Tesla would deliver approximately 385k vehicles, which they essentially managed to achieve. However, deliveries fell short of production numbers, with Tesla delivering just 373k of the 410k vehicles produced.

This situation is particularly challenging in Central Europe. Europe has been noted as Tesla’s weakest market, according to Elon. Interestingly, Elon previously stated in several interviews over the last few months that there was no demand issue, but it now seems that there have been some issues with growing sales.

With Tesla’s new vehicle registrations across Europe having plunged 37% since the start of this year, and the rollout of the new affordable model, as well as more affordable versions of the Model 3 and Model Y seemingly delayed, there is a lot to do. Some analysts are projecting a second consecutive annual decline in Tesla’s global car sales for 2025.

The Rise of Tom Zhu

A key note in this reshuffle is the return of Tom Zhu to a top global operations role. Tom had previously led the construction and ramp-up of Giga Shanghai and was then promoted to Senior VP of Automotive Operations in 2023. Last year, he was sent back to China to focus on tackling regulatory hurdles with the launch of FSD in China.

His return to overseeing global manufacturing, even while staying in China, is a significant vote of confidence in his abilities. It also comes as Chinese authorities have begun drafting new autonomy guidelines to clear a path for the broader rollout of both Supervised and potentially Unsupervised FSD.

Wrap Up

This major restructuring shows that Elon is once again focused on Tesla and plans to personally tackle the company’s biggest issues. This will require a careful hand, as Elon’s forays into politics have caused self-admitted brand damage. If anyone can turn this around and have the Model Y return as the Best-Selling Vehicle of 2026, having just missed out by a few thousand vehicles to the Toyota RAV4, it is Elon.

Alongside him, Tom Zhu will be responsible for streamlining global manufacturing and ensuring that Tesla is ready to launch their new affordable variants in the near future, which should also make a considerable dent in sales.

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Tesla Shares Q2 2025 Numbers: Production and Deliveries Up Over Last Quarter

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Tesla has released its Q2 2025 production and delivery numbers, revealing an improvement in production and deliveries over Q1, but still down from a year ago.

Tesla produced 410,244 vehicles in Q2, nearly equal to their production a year ago, which was 410,831 vehicles. Production for this quarter was significantly up compared to Q1 2025, which only saw 362,615 vehicles produced. While production numbers matched those of a year ago, actual deliveries were down.

Q2 2025 saw Tesla deliver 384,122 vehicles, which was down approximately 59,000 units compared to the same period last year, but up by approximately 48,000 vehicles, or about 14% compared to Q1.

Breakdown by Model

The Model 3/Y segment continues to dominate Tesla’s production profile, accounting for 396,835 units produced and 373,728 delivered in Q2 2025. Deliveries for the “Other Models” category—which includes the Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X—were down compared to the previous quarter, with just 10,394 vehicles delivered, a 20% decline. Compared to a year ago, the drop for these vehicles is even more drastic, with sales being down 52%. Tesla refreshed its Model S and Model X last month with new features; however, the update was much smaller than expected and likely didn’t help much in increasing sales for these vehicles.

Tesla doesn’t break down Cybertruck sales separately, but those deliveries are expected to be down as well.

Tesla noted that 2% of total deliveries this quarter were accounted for under operating lease agreements, consistent with the same quarter last year.

Context and Market Response

While the numbers exceeded some bearish expectations, the year-over-year delivery drop is Tesla’s second straight quarterly decline. Analysts attribute declining sales to increasing EV competition and reputation issues.

Still, investors found relief in the improved quarter when compared to Q1. The stock rebounded about 4% yesterday on the news.

Looking ahead, all eyes are on Tesla’s Robotaxi network, the Cybercab, and the more affordable model, which is slated to be released later this year.

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