Sources speaking with Reuters have said that Tesla could raise its prices in China as many as two times this year, once on August 30, a bit earlier than expected, and possibly again in December if Chinese tariffs on U.S.-made cars come into force.
The two price increases come as a result of various political moves by China, which in turn are a response to America’s tariffs on Chinese exports. The price increase set for August 30 comes as a result of the yuan being weakened against the dollar, meanwhile, the December rise may come if China brings in tariffs of 25% on vehicles and 5% on auto parts. It had similar tariffs in force before but suspended them in December last year.
According to one of the sources, Tesla is planning to ship more cars to China before December when the latter tariff comes in, this will help the company reduce costs.
Tesla is currently building Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai China and is expected to become operational at the end of the year if all goes according to plan. Tesla is planning to build 3,000 Model 3 vehicles per week for the local market from Gigafactory 3, which should ultimately help it minimise the damage from the on-going trade war.
Tesla has not officially stated that it will increase prices.
Source: Reuters
1 Comment - Add comment