Tesla may have upset people in China who paid for their vehicles right before it announced price cuts, but the company is still completing thousands of deliveries. The carmaker completed more than 10,000 deliveries on the day the price cuts were announced.
According to a mid-level executive at Tesla China, the company delivered more than 200 vehicles daily last weekend in Ningbo, Zhejiang province alone, local media outlet ifeng.com reports.
Tesla slashed prices sharply on January 6th. The price changes affected both Model 3 and Model Y and were the second in three months.
The least expensive Model 3, the rear-wheel drive, now costs the equivalent of US$33,430, down from US$38,664. The Model Y now starts at US$37,793, dropping from $42,010.
The price cuts have been interpreted as a sign of falling demand in China. Tesla sold 55,796 vehicles in December, a 44.37 percent drop from an all-time high of 100,291 in November, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
However, the price cuts are obviously working. ifeng.com reported that buyers that already completed test drives with Xpeng switched to Tesla to take advantage of the price drop. Salespersons for other competing brands, including BYD, Li Auto, and NIO, reportedly expressed similar concerns.
Tesla’s Ningbo showroom is reportedly welcoming more visitors than usual.
