Tesla delivery time is longer on some China models after discounts

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) has indicated longer wait times for potential buyers of some versions of the Model Y in China, signaling that price cuts announced on Friday could boost demand in electric vehicle manufacturer. the second largest market.

The wait time for orders of the rear-wheel-drive and long-range versions of the Model Y was a week longer on Monday than on Friday, Tesla’s website showed.

The company’s shares rose about 5% to $118.96 early Monday, after losing 68% in the past 12 months.

The wait as of Monday was two to five weeks for those models. The wait time for all versions of the Model 3 and the performance version of the Model Y remained at one to four weeks as of Monday.

Tesla cut prices by 6% to 13.5% on Friday in discounts that brought some of its cars closer to BYD’s ( 1211.HK ) best-selling models in a move that analysts read as a sign that a price war could be building in a time when demand in China has fallen.

As of Monday, Tesla had made no adjustments to its January production schedule for its Shanghai plant, with assembly lines suspended starting Jan. 20 through the end of the month, a person with knowledge of the matter said. this matter.

“This (wait time) is an early indicator that the price cuts are having their intended effect, which is to increase demand,” said CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson.

People check out a Tesla Model Y electric vehicle (EV) on display at its stand during the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China, September 4, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo

Nelson added that Tesla’s vehicle production has outpaced sales for three consecutive quarters, and the company has opted to lower prices and take some additional downtime at the Shanghai factory to bring supply and demand back into balance.

Angry Chinese owners who bought Tesla cars in late 2022 and lost the extra discount said they were waiting for a response from the company to their demand for some sort of compensation after a storm of impromptu protests.

A Tesla representative told Reuters on Saturday that the company has no plans to compensate those buyers for the price cuts they missed out on. The company did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Some of the buyers in China said they had been led to believe that further discounts would not come. Many were also looking to take advantage of a nationwide EV subsidy that expired at the end of the year.

Chinese state media have largely chosen not to cover the protests, which online videos showed took place in cities including Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Xi’an. Reuters witnessed a protest at a Tesla facility in Shanghai.

Comments on Chinese social media were largely negative towards protesting Tesla buyers, with many saying online that they should have understood the terms of the contract.

“I feel ashamed that they are protesting after Tesla lowered prices,” commented a popular legal blogger named “Wind Blows” on his Weibo social media.

Separately, Tesla began offering discounts to buyers in Singapore starting Monday who agreed to buy existing inventory, adding to that market in China, South Korea, Japan and Australia where it has offered new incentives.

Reporting by Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh; Additional reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Shounak Dasgupta

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