SHANGHAI, Jan 6 – Tesla cut electric car prices in China for the second time in less than three months on Friday, fueling expectations of a wider price war for battery-powered vehicles in the world’s biggest auto market. where demand weakened.
Tesla also cut the prices of its best-selling Model Y and Model 3 electric vehicles in Japan, South Korea and Australia.
The coordinated price cuts were part of an effort to help boost demand for Tesla’s output at its Shanghai factory, the company’s single largest manufacturing hub, according to a person with direct knowledge of the plan.
It was also the electric vehicle maker’s first major move since Tesla appointed its China and Asia chief, Tom Zhu, who is based in Shanghai, to oversee global production and deliveries.
The latest cuts in China, along with price cuts in October and incentives extended to Chinese buyers over the past three months, mean a 13% to 24% price cut for Tesla since September in its second-largest market after the United States. according to Reuters calculations.
Tesla on Friday cut prices of all versions of its Model 3 and Model Y cars in China by between 6% and 13.5%, according to Reuters calculations based on prices listed on its website. The starting price for the Model 3, for example, was cut to 229,900 yuan ($33,427) from 265,900 yuan. On the same day, it cut prices in Japan.
Grace Tao, Tesla’s vice president in charge of external communications in China, posted on her Weibo social media account on Friday that Tesla’s price cut in China reflects technical innovation and “responds to the government’s call to promote economic development and encourage consumption.”
Shipments of Tesla cars made in China hit a five-month low in December.