Sales of Tesla vehicles in Japan has never been that high, but that appears to be changing after a recent price cut for the Model 3.
Tesla sold just 44 cars in March 2020. According to the latest data from the Japan Automobile Importers Association, that number skyrocketed 1,300% to 588 units in March 2021.
The strong sales made Tesla the third most popular foreign auto brand in the country, behind Fiat (739) and Land Rover (689).
Part of the reason for the large increase in sales is an equally large price cut. In February the Standard Range Plus (SR+) Model 3 was reduced in price by 16%, and the Long Range (LR) variant dropped by 24%. Tesla was able to drop the prices so much by importing them from Giga Shanghai instead of Fremont.
The price cut for the SR+ was enough to make it priced less than the locally made Nissan Leaf. That made it much more popular overnight, with estimated delivery dates extended to as much as 12-16 weeks.
Source: Yahoo Japan
