Tesla’s Shanghai factory deliveries hit record as Model Y variant woos buyers

The assembly line – based in the Lingang free-trade zone, a coastal area linked to the Yangshan Deep-water Port – delivered a total of 90,812 vehicles to customers in September, a record high this year, up 2.8 per cent from the same period in 2024, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Compared to its 83,192 deliveries in August, the Shanghai plant, Tesla’s largest production hub worldwide, posted a 9.2 per cent month-on-month increase.

It was the highest since December 2024, when the Gigafactory delivered 93,766 units. The numbers comprise both sales in mainland China and exports to overseas markets like Japan.

“Tesla’s efforts to regain its lost ground in China have taken effect as competition escalated in the market,” said Tian Maowei, a sales manager at Yiyou Auto Service in Shanghai. “It is a rare achievement for the US carmaker in China this year.”

The year-on-year rise of 2.8 per cent also capped a two-straight-month decline. For the first nine months of 2025, the Shanghai factory delivered 606,364 units, down 10.3 per cent on year.