Following January's sharp sales decline in China, Tesla reported a 91% year-over-year surge in China-made vehicle sales for February, reaching 58,600 units—the fourth consecutive monthly rise. This offsets ongoing 2025 global delivery weakness (down 9% to 1,636,129 vehicles) and soft demand in the U.S. and Europe. Tesla is committing over $20 billion to AI, humanoid robots, and autonomy, including the new Digital Optimus project.
Gigafactory Shanghai produced 58,600 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in February 2026 (domestic sales plus exports), per China Passenger Car Association data—a 91% jump from February 2025's 30,688 units but down 15.2% from January's 69,129 units due to Lunar New Year holidays. Exports from Shanghai soared nearly five-fold to 20,000 units, reinforcing its export hub status for Asia and Europe.
Tesla sweetened China financing with seven-year low-interest and five-year interest-free deals through March 31, 2026, to spur demand before a 5% NEV purchase tax. Amid these efforts, Vice President of Finance resigned after 17 years.
Strategically, Tesla is doubling down on AI, allocating $20+ billion to robotaxis, Optimus humanoid robots, and autonomy. The new xAI collaboration, Digital Optimus, processes real-time screen video and keyboard inputs to handle tasks like accounting and HR, as noted by Elon Musk.
Q4 2025 results were mixed: adjusted EPS $0.50 (beat), revenue $24.90B (miss), operating income $1.41B (beat), gross margins 20.1% (improved). Tesla shares rose ~3% that week.
These trends underscore Tesla's dependence on Shanghai for volume while shifting to high-margin AI/robotics amid BYD and NIO competition—building on earlier production pivots like halting Model S/X for Optimus.
