Tesla pauses Model 3 orders in Canada amid China EV quota — SkimNews
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- Tesla pulled the Model 3 Premium (RWD/AWD) from its Canadian configurator after launching the Shanghai-built trim at a record-low $39,490 CAD in May, with orders not expected to reopen before March 1, 2027.
- Global Affairs Canada's Export and Import Controls tracker shows only 15,931 of 49,000 first-come, first-served permits have been used since March 1, leaving 33,069 (67%) unused as of October 9.
- Monthly imports under the ≤$35,000 customs bucket — the category a $39,490 Model 3 would fall into — went from 465 in June to 4,743 in July and 2,597 in August, then collapsed to 7 in September and zero in October.
- Global Affairs Canada's quota notice reserves the right to "set aside a portion of the available quota for the use of OEMs, including new entrants," though no Tesla-specific allocation has been published.
- Tesla's own wording — "Tesla's import quota" — implies a company-level allotment rather than open FCFS access; the automaker had a head start since its Shanghai cars were already Transport Canada-certified in March while BYD and Geely are still building dealer networks.
- Canada's 49,000-vehicle annual cap is scheduled to grow to 70,000 by 2030, against roughly 1.9 million new vehicles sold in the country each year — meaning one affordable trim from one automaker absorbed a meaningful share of the quota in roughly four months.
Why it matters: If Ottawa silently capped Tesla to save room for BYD and Geely, it's a defensible policy — but the 49,000-vehicle annual cap is tiny against 1.9 million new-vehicle sales, and one affordable trim absorbed its share in roughly four months, exposing how undersized the quota is. Canadian automakers, dealers, and would-be EV buyers are now making pricing and inventory decisions with no published allocation data from the government.
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