Tesla has announced a price cut of its China-made vehicles by up to 6 percent as it works to maintain its leading position in the premium segment of the world’s largest electric vehicle market, as growth in the world biggest electric car market slows.
The Texas-based company announced on Friday that the price of the entry-level edition of its Model 3 will be reduced from 261,400 yuan (US$36,814) to 245,900 yuan, while the starting price of the Model Y is now 258,900 yuan, down from 266,400 yuan.
The price cuts come after Tesla reported 15.7 percent month-on-month sales growth to 75,805 units in mainland China in December, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association.
The founder of Shanghai-based EV data provider, Phate Zhang said “Tesla apparently hopes to maintain its market share in the highly competitive market.
“Chinese home-grown rivals have launched a raft of new intelligent electric cars to mount a challenge to the US EV builder.”
Tesla also lowered the price of the dual-motor version of the Model 3 by 3.9 per cent to 285,900 yuan and offered a 2.1 per cent discount on the dual-motor Model Y, which now sells for 299,900 yuan.
The front-runner in China’s premium electric vehicle segment delivered 603,664 EVs made in its Shanghai Gigafactory to buyers in China last year, up 37.3 per cent from 2022. The growth was nearly unchanged from the 37 per cent sales rise recorded in 2022 when it delivered about 440,000 vehicles.
Sales of electric cars in China jumped 37 percent last year, with deliveries of pure EVs and plug-in hybrids hitting 8.9 million units.
At present, mainland China accounts for about 60 per cent of global EV sales.
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