The Best-Selling SUV In China Is From An American Automaker

As of May 2025, the best-selling SUV in China is from an American automaker. That would be the Tesla Model Y. Based on insurance registrations for that month, a total of 24,770 examples of Tesla's mid-size Model Y were sold. The Tesla Model Y came in ahead of the BYD Song Plus EV, made by Tesla's most dangerous rival, with 24,240 sales, and the Geely Xingyue L, a gasoline-powered vehicle, which shifted 21,014 units. This was in spite of a significant 38% drop in Model Y sales in China compared to one year earlier in May of 2024, when Tesla's Model Y chalked up 39,985 domestic Chinese sales. 

While Tesla may have taken the SUV sales crown, going from second place in April 2025 to first place in May, its overall sales in China have been going in the wrong direction. Not only were its May 2025 sales of 38,588 units reduced by 30% compared to May of 2024, but its monthly sales in China were down for four out of five months from January to May 2025, when compared to the same period in 2024. Considering that total EV sales, counting battery electric vehicles only, in China were up 22.4% for May, the outlook is not exactly rosy for Tesla in the Chinese market.

The Chinese market Tesla Model Y is made at Tesla's Gigafactory Shanghai. This plant has dual distinctions of being not only the first gigafactory that Tesla has built outside of the United States, and it's also the only automotive production facility in China to be wholly owned by a foreign automaker. In addition to the Model Y, which recently received its Juniper refresh, Tesla also produces the Model 3 sedan, which owners might want to ditch, at Gigafactory Shanghai. The factory's full annual production capacity of 950,000 units was reached in September of 2024, meaning Gigafactory Shanghai has the largest production capacity of any of the Tesla facilities worldwide. 

As a result of this huge capacity, Tesla's Gigafactory Shanghai is also the company's largest export hub. From this sprawling plant, Tesla ships its vehicles all over the world. Countries receiving Tesla vehicle exports from China include New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Norway, Germany, and many others. 

It should be noted that Tesla has several other factories in various locations that also produce its vehicles. The Tesla Model Y is made at three other Tesla plants — in Fremont, California, in Gigafactory Texas, and in Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg. The Tesla Model 3 is also made in Fremont, as are the Tesla Model S and the Tesla Model X. The Tesla Cybertruck is produced solely at the Gigafactory Texas location.