Tesla to start delivering Model 3 to China buyers in March
Tesla aims to accelerate Chinese sales that have been hit hard by the impact of trade tension between Washington and Beijing.
Tesla Inc said on Friday it plans to start delivering Model 3 cars to customers in China in March, cementing a time frame that the US electric vehicle (EV) maker’s chief executive, Elon Musk, tweeted about late last year.
The California-based firm, which aims to accelerate Chinese sales that have been hit hard by the impact of trade tension between Washington and Beijing, said in a statement the starting price for a Model 3 in China would be 499,000 yuan (USD 72,000).
Tesla cut prices for its Model 3 last month, the third time in the last two months for the firm to adjust prices in China.
In November, Tesla cut the prices of its Model X and Model S in China by 12 to 26 percent.
Tesla has opened a tender process to build a USD 2 billion plant in Shanghai - dubbed a Gigafactory - and at least one contractor has started buying materials, Reuters reported earlier last month.
The automaker has said it aims to initially produce about 3,000 Model 3 vehicles per week at the plant and localise its manufacturing and supply chain.
The factory, Tesla’s first in China, marks a major bet by the EV maker as it looks to bolster its presence in the world’s biggest auto market where it faces rising competition from a swathe of domestic rivals, while its earnings have been hit by increased tariffs on US imports.
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