Chinese-Made Tesla Model 3 Orders Skyrocket: 10 Orders In 1 Minute

[TMC Staff]

Thousands of orders for the RWD Long Range and AWD Performance Model 3 are booked. According to the reliable website, Tesmanian, orders for the Tesla Model 3 RWD Long Range, and AWD Performance have been robust since Tesla opened the order books two days ago. In fact, They are reporting that as many as 20,000...
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[glide]

10 orders in one minute in a place with a 1.4 billion people?

Mmmmmmkay. Not sure if I’d be tooting the proverbial horn over that statistic.

 

[MitchV]

10 orders a minute would exceed manufacturing capacity... and yet Tesla has recently discounted their cars in China?

Tesla Model 3: Prices for China-built cars were just cut - CNN

Perhaps there were a lot of orders in a 60 second period, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Tesla is selling every vehicle they're producing.

The implied information does not add up.

 

[vickh]

Impressive given the economy. Although they might get a V shaped recovery given all the stuff we're buying

Do they do referrals also?

 

[MX_2017DE]

10 orders in one minute in a place with a 1.4 billion people?

Mmmmmmkay. Not sure if I’d be tooting the proverbial horn over that statistic.

Remember, China has 4,470,000 millionaires (on USD basis!).
If only 1/10 of them wants a Model 3/Y then Shanghai GF is sold out for two years ...

 

[glide]

Remember, China has 4,470,000 millionaires (on USD basis!).
If only 1/10 of them wants a Model 3/Y then Shanghai GF is sold out for two years ...

But they don’t. Otherwise they would be touting better stats.

10 orders in one minute when demand is at its peak is not impressive.

 

[adrianp89]

Is it me or does 10 order in 1 minutes sound pretty bad? I understand if you spread this average across time, it is great, but the perception is crap, especially when you combine with the word "Skyrocket". Reminds of an article I saw a few weeks ago. "Corona Virus deaths skyrocket as death toll triples" - open the article it went from 2 to 6 deaths.

 

[john5520]

Is it me or does 10 order in 1 minutes sound pretty bad? I understand if you spread this average across time, it is great, but the perception is crap, especially when you combine with the word "Skyrocket". Reminds of an article I saw a few weeks ago. "Corona Virus deaths skyrocket as death toll triples" - open the article it went from 2 to 6 deaths.

Skyrocket as a percentage. Percentage at the end of the day is what matters.

Tesla just has to move inventory, it's not necessary to sell one to every citizen who can afford it. They can't produce that much anyway at this point in time. Plus, with the present economy and a Pandemic in play, I don't see people rushing to buy new cars.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Perhaps this was just Tesla's way to indicate that there is still a strong demand for their cars, even after the Corona shutdown.

$1/2 Million a minute is pretty strong, and far more than they can produce.

Lots of stories about automotive demand faltering in China. This is just one data point to indicate demand is still strong.

Gives people faith that when production in the USA is started back up, that perhaps people will once again begin buying cars.

Tesla stock up +$83.00 this morning to $733 share.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

10 orders in one minute in a place with a 1.4 billion people?

Mmmmmmkay. Not sure if I’d be tooting the proverbial horn over that statistic.

China's population is one thing, the size of the car and premium car markets is another.

A steady rate of 10 orders per minute would be 5.26M orders per year. That would be about a quarter of the entire Chinese passenger car market.

The 2018 Chinese luxury vehicle market for cars priced $44k or more was 1.16M in a total market of about 22M.
The total premium market in the USA in 2019 was over 1.93M in a market of 17 million.

In any case, the 10 in one minute (note: without any big fanfare on the lead-in) was just a remark from a site that was tracking demand.

 

[glide]

Perhaps this was just Tesla's way to indicate that there is still a strong demand for their cars, even after the Corona shutdown.

$1/2 Million a minute is pretty strong, and far more than they can produce.

Lots of stories about automotive demand faltering in China. This is just one data point to indicate demand is still strong.

Gives people faith that when production in the USA is started back up, that perhaps people will once again begin buying cars.

Tesla stock up +$83.00 this morning to $733 share.

They are not taking in half a million per minute.

It was half a million in one minute. Then what?

This is about as sensational a headline as I’ve seen.

 

[Uncle Paul]

looks like you are just determined to be negative about this positive post.

The post was not from Tesla, but from a company that is tracking demand.

Nobody said they are getting that volume every minute. They infered that this was just an outlet worth mentioning.

 

[AdamMacDon]

10 orders in one minute in a place with a 1.4 billion people?

Mmmmmmkay. Not sure if I’d be tooting the proverbial horn over that statistic.

It's not great but keep in mind the RMB, while only worth about the fifth of the USD, is what most Chinese people consider when budgeting. People are paid in RMB, and pay living costs with it, and the price of the Model 3 is around 400,000 RMB. The average salary is around 70k-80k RMB. So the average American can buy a Model 3 for less than a year of their average salary, while a Chinese worker would need 5x that. Per capita, the US is going to sell more Model 3's, the only thing that might change that is how much China restricts ICE cars and pushes EV's. China is way ahead of North America in regards to electrification. This is also kind of a double edged sword. China has lots of very affordable EV options that will suck up the upper middle class market the Model 3 targets. BYD (Build Your Dreams) also has truly budget offerings (by Chinese car market standards). Futhermore, in China, EV's get to drive all days of the week, where gas cars have days they cannot drive the car. This means Tesla has more competition in China, where as in the US it pretty much murders any "competitors" at the moment, except perhaps the Nissan Leaf.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Wealthy Chinese are heavily into status, and currently Tesla is a highly aspirational vehicle there.
Most of the local companies make very inexpensive and basic electric transportation. Wealthy people there are not excited to be seen driving around in those econoboxes.
Strong governmental subsidies, abilities to get restricted license plates and drive in congested cities are currently strong drivers for Tesla demand. TheS/X Bioweapon HEPA filter is also valued highly by people commuting through heavily polluted cities.

Making Tesla cars locally is also a strong point to make Chinese feel that Tesla values their country.

 

[AdamMacDon]

Wealthy Chinese are heavily into status, and currently Tesla is a highly aspirational vehicle there.
Most of the local companies make very inexpensive and basic electric transportation. Wealthy people there are not excited to be seen driving around in those econoboxes.
Strong governmental subsidies, abilities to get restricted license plates and drive in congested cities are currently strong drivers for Tesla demand. TheS/X Bioweapon HEPA filter is also valued highly by people commuting through heavily polluted cities.

Making Tesla cars locally is also a strong point to make Chinese feel that Tesla values their country.

Yes but the difference between the Model S/X and Model 3 sales in North America is very large. I predict the difference will not be so large in China. The fact is, in China only wealthy Chinese people can afford a Tesla. I am considered average, maybe even on the poorer side, and I own a base Tesla here in NA. The Model S and X have been available for years, so if you are a wealthy person wanting all those benefits of having a Tesla, you probably already bought one. Hence expecting some huge influx of Tesla sales over a slightly cheaper and locally made car seems kind of unrealistic (especially in the worst recession in recent history during a pandemic). If you are the average earner in China, spending a third of a million RMB on a car is pretty much out of the question.

In short, 10 cars a minute sounds pretty bad. But, all things considered, I actually think it is quite good!

Also, I forgot to add that Chinese people are not like North Americans, they don't have a huge thirst for credit and it's hard for the average person to get low interest loans for a long period. Making it hard to finance a car over 6-8 years, which is becoming common here.

 

[vickh]

Yes but the difference between the Model S/X and Model 3 sales in North America is very large. I predict the difference will not be so large in China. The fact is, in China only wealthy Chinese people can afford a Tesla. I am considered average, maybe even on the poorer side, and I own a base Tesla here in NA. The Model S and X have been available for years, so if you are a wealthy person wanting all those benefits of having a Tesla, you probably already bought one. Hence expecting some huge influx of Tesla sales over a slightly cheaper and locally made car seems kind of unrealistic (especially in the worst recession in recent history during a pandemic). If you are the average earner in China, spending a third of a million RMB on a car is pretty much out of the question.

In short, 10 cars a minute sounds pretty bad. But, all things considered, I actually think it is quite good!

Also, I forgot to add that Chinese people are not like North Americans, they don't have a huge thirst for credit and it's hard for the average person to get low interest loans for a long period. Making it hard to finance a car over 6-8 years, which is becoming common here.

+1 Americans buy cars/assets by the month. Not so true in the rest of the world, you buy in cash. There was another thread over in the Y thread about buying in cash. Imagine if we didn't have cheap credit either

 

[john5520]

Yes but the difference between the Model S/X and Model 3 sales in North America is very large. I predict the difference will not be so large in China. The fact is, in China only wealthy Chinese people can afford a Tesla. I am considered average, maybe even on the poorer side, and I own a base Tesla here in NA. The Model S and X have been available for years, so if you are a wealthy person wanting all those benefits of having a Tesla, you probably already bought one. Hence expecting some huge influx of Tesla sales over a slightly cheaper and locally made car seems kind of unrealistic (especially in the worst recession in recent history during a pandemic). If you are the average earner in China, spending a third of a million RMB on a car is pretty much out of the question.

In short, 10 cars a minute sounds pretty bad. But, all things considered, I actually think it is quite good!

Also, I forgot to add that Chinese people are not like North Americans, they don't have a huge thirst for credit and it's hard for the average person to get low interest loans for a long period. Making it hard to finance a car over 6-8 years, which is becoming common here.

Maybe I'm wrong about the prices, but the Model S and X are going for at least 2x the cost of a Model 3 in China. That's a huge difference.

What I see is the Model 3 cannibalizing some of the Model S and to a lesser degree Model X sales.

 

[Uncle Paul]

It is not the average earner that is buying Tesla in China. Because their population is so high, there are actually more rich people in China than US. There are also lots more poor people, but they are not buying new cars.

China regulates the number of license plates they issue to supress new car sales in polluted and congested urban areas. Tesla are specifically exempted from this restriction. In many areas Tesla becomes one of the few new cars the rich can buy immediately.

Kind of like how California only allows EVs to drive with a single occupant in the HOV lanes. Many buy Tesla in Cali just for this reason. Many also get a rebate from the State or Utility company that make it a compelling choice.

As more and more cities get pressure to reduce pollution choked air in the congested urban areas, they are beginning to prohibit gassers from entering the city centers or even restricting sales of gassers state wide.