Tesla’s Chinese sales staff are under increasing pressure as the U.S. automaker faces intensifying competition in the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, according to a report by local outlet Jiemian News citing current and former employees.
The report says Tesla sales teams in China are being pushed to work seven days a week, with working hours from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, as the company attempts to meet ambitious sales targets. These efforts come as Tesla’s grip on the Chinese market loosens in the face of growing challenges from local rivals including BYD, Nio, Li Auto, and smartphone maker Xiaomi, which recently entered the EV sector.
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“As the group that deals with the most front-line consumers, Tesla sales have in fact clearly felt the strong pressure to close deals,” Jiemian quoted one Tesla salesperson as saying. “We’re now working from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, with an average daily working time of nearly 13 hours.”
China has been a crucial growth driver for Tesla since 2020, but the company’s dominance is being eroded. Xiaomi’s newly launched SU7 sedan has reportedly outsold Tesla’s Model 3, and a direct competitor to the Model Y is also on the horizon.
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Tesla has offered 0% interest financing on some models to bolster sales, but recent internal directives indicate more aggressive sales tactics are being enforced. According to Jiemian, store targets in cities like Beijing now require individual sales staff to sell one vehicle per day—roughly 30 per month—though many employees report achieving only 3 to 4 sales per week.
“To sell one car a day, we need to create 10 user profiles, send three online test drive invitations, and complete four test drives,” one salesperson explained.
The high demands have reportedly resulted in increased turnover. At a Tesla store in Beijing, the report claims, the entire sales team had turned over within a month and a half.
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“The days when we didn’t have to introduce products to users and orders were ‘automatically’ delivered to their doorsteps are gone forever,” another employee said.
Tesla’s perceived brand value in China has also declined, with consumers increasingly seeing its vehicles as commonplace rather than premium. The automaker has banked on a refreshed Model Y to stay competitive, but its ability to maintain share in China remains uncertain as local competitors scale up in both affordability and technology.