Tesla is facing weaker sales in China this year, but the American electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer is looking to generate a buzz in its second-largest market by exhibiting its new self-driving vehicle, the Cybercab.
The robotaxi – which operates entirely without a steering wheel, pedals or rear-view mirrors – would debut in major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, starting mid-September in a showcase of product design and technological sophistication, according to Tesla China.
However, the company clarified that the Cybercab exhibition did not indicate the cars would be sold in China, nor that Tesla’s robotaxi business would operate there any time soon.
Still, industry observers and automotive dealers noted that the promotional tour could strengthen Tesla’s brand visibility in the world’s largest EV market, bringing potential longer-term benefits.
“It will convince thousands of visitors at Tesla showrooms that the company remains a global leader in autonomous driving,” said Steve Shi, a manager at Juchen Auto Trade, a China-based car service firm. “Despite facing stiff competition here, Tesla still has a large fan base in China who want to buy its cars.”
The Cybercab entered mass production at Tesla’s Texas Gigafactory in April. The two-seat model relies entirely on a self-driving system to navigate public streets without traditional manual controls.
Tesla China’s announcement on Friday followed its Shanghai Gigafactory reporting a 7.9 per cent month-on-month decline in deliveries in August.
The assembly plant – Tesla’s largest production hub worldwide – handed 86,166 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to customers in China and abroad last month, compared with 93,579 total deliveries in July, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
The CPCA has yet to release a breakdown dividing the Shanghai plant’s August figures into domestic and overseas sales.
Between January and July, Tesla delivered 266,204 vehicles to Chinese buyers, down 12.4 per cent from a year ago. Throughout 2025, the Shanghai Gigafactory produced about 851,000 vehicles for both domestic sales and exports, accounting for 52 per cent of Tesla’s global total.
China remains Tesla’s second-largest market worldwide, behind only the United States. Last year, the EV maker reported sales of about 625,000 vehicles on the mainland, down nearly 5 per cent from 2024.
The US carmaker established itself as an early front runner in China’s premium EV segment after its Shanghai factory began deliveries of the Model 3 to domestic customers in late 2019.
By 2025, however, Chinese smartphone vendor and EV start-up Xiaomi had emerged as a formidable challenger in the domestic market, with deliveries of its fully electric SU7 surpassing those of Tesla’s Shanghai-produced Model 3.
