Tesla lowers price for Model Y in China by $1380, aiming to secure more market share: expert

Tesla announced a final payment reduction of 10,000 yuan ($1380) for the Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive and Long-Range All-Wheel Drive from Monday to December 31, as well as offering a five-year zero-interest financing deal with a down payment starting at 79,900 yuan.

The previous price for a Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive started at 249,900 yuan and the Long-Range All-Wheel Drive version costs 290,900 yuan, according to the US carmaker's official website.

Tesla said that consumers who purchase an electric vehicle can save at least 50,000 yuan directly, as they can combine the final payment reduction and five-year financing program with subsidies from national and local trade-in programs, domestic news site stcn.com reported on Monday.

The reduction is a normal year-end discount commonly offered by auto enterprises in the period from the end of December leading up to the Lunar New Year, Zhang Xiang, secretary-general of the International Intelligent Vehicle Engineering Association, told the Global Times on Monday. He added that Tesla is launching promotions that target different markets and that the timing is appropriate for the upcoming new year consumption peak.

Zhang noted that the strategy is adapting to localization as many Chinese car enterprises lower their prices at the end of the year. Amid domestic competition in the auto sector, he noted that the move aims to secure more market share.

Among Tesla's global markets, China has the lowest selling price, up to 185,000 yuan cheaper than other regions, according to a report from stcn.com. It noted that Tesla had conducted at least six price cuts or preferential activities in China this year, based on incomplete statistics.

Domestic sales of the Model Y surpassed 36,000 in October, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association. Cumulative Model Y sales exceeded 373,000 units this year to date, making it the best-selling model in China.

The Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai saw its 3 millionth vehicle roll off the assembly line in October, setting a new milestone. In the first three quarters of this year, 676,000 Tesla vehicles were delivered by the Shanghai Gigafactory, accounting for more than half of Tesla's global deliveries.

As to the Gigafactory's local supply, the component localization rate at the Shanghai Gigafactory has surpassed 95 percent, and the US firm has signed contracts with over 400 local tier-one suppliers in China, of which more than 60 suppliers have been integrated into Tesla's global supply chain, according to People's Daily.