ChinaTesla’s retail sales in China were 8,817 vehicles in October 2026, according to China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data released on 9 November and worked up by CnEVPost. That is 66.10% fewer than the 26,006 of October 2025 and 86.40% fewer than the 64,837 of September. It is the lowest monthly figure since July 2022, when sales were 8,461, and the first time retail has fallen below 10,000 since then.
Exports took 87% of Shanghai’s output
The CPCA reports Tesla’s wholesale sales (cars leaving the factory, at home or abroad) and its exports, but not retail. CnEVPost derives retail by subtracting the Shanghai plant’s exports from wholesale: 67,829 less 59,012 leaves 8,817.
Exports rose 66.27% year on year and 93.30% from September to 59,012, the second-highest month on record behind the 66,330 of July 2026. They made up 87% of wholesale, against a previous record share of 76.01% in October 2022. Domestic retail was the other 13%.
Wholesale itself rose 10.30% on October 2025, the tenth straight year-on-year increase, but it fell 28.88% from September to its lowest since February. October’s year-on-year decline was the fifth in a row for retail.
One month against ten
October is a weak base for judging the year, so the ten-month totals (our sums of CnEVPost’s monthly tables) give the fuller picture. From January to October 2026, Tesla’s China retail was 389,905, down 15.0% from 458,710 in the same months of 2025. Exports were 420,984, more than retail, and wholesale was 810,889, up 21.4% from 667,861.
Retail has swung widely month to month this year: 38,206 in February, 56,107 in March and 64,837 in September. A single month at 8,817 does not by itself make a trend, and the CnEVPost article does not give a reason for the drop. The export figure is the part that stands apart: exports were 51.9% of Shanghai wholesale over the ten months, against 31.3% a year earlier.
For Tesla’s global picture, see our report on its third-quarter 2026 deliveries; the Model 3 and Model Y pages cover the cars.
