Tesla Inc yesterday started taking orders for Model 3 cars to be made in China, lowering prices for the vehicle as it seeks to double down on a market it expects to drive growth and revenue.
The Palo Alto, California-based company set the base price at 328,000 yuan (US$47,523), including value added taxes, it said in a statement.
The sedans, to be built at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Shanghai, are to have a range of 460km per charge and will probably be delivered in six to 10 months. The car is 49,000 yuan cheaper than the imported version.
Photo: Reuters
“The price drop makes Tesla more accessible,” the company said in a Chinese-language statement.
Tesla would introduce V3 Superchargers in China by the end of this year, it said.
The new technology cuts charging times to about 15 minutes, Tesla said in a blog post in March.
Tesla currently ships all its vehicles from the US, making them ineligible for Chinese government subsidies and subjecting them to import tariffs. The company is counting on its Shanghai factory, which is slated to begin production this year, to bolster competitiveness in a country crowded with hundreds of electric-vehicle rivals.
The need for Tesla to expand beyond the US was highlighted by its latest quarterly results, which missed analysts’ projections. The halving of a US federal tax incentive for Tesla purchases starting in January dragged on US demand in the quarter and Tesla struggled to offset that drop by starting deliveries of the Model 3 in Europe and China.
Local production in China, the world’s largest auto market, would not only allow Tesla to avoid import duties amid trade tensions, but also speed up deliveries, a priority flagged by Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk.
A 31 percent quarter-on-quarter drop in deliveries in the first three months contributed to a 43 percent plunge in Tesla shares this year.
Separately, Tesla tweeted that the Model 3 can now also be ordered in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Ireland and Macau.
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Polar Semiconductor LLC to collaborate on the production of 8-inch wafers in the US. The collaboration aims to strengthen 8-inch wafer manufacturing in the US amid Washington’s efforts to increase onshore manufacturing of semiconductors, contribute to supply chain resilience against shifting geopolitical dynamics, and ensure a secure domestic supply of power semiconductors critical to automotive, electric grids, robotic manufacturing and data centers, the companies said in a joint statement. Under the MOU, Polar and UMC will identify devices for Polar to manufacture at
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
Two companies wholly owned by the daughter of the founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Monday reported to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that they would dispose of all of the Hon Hai shares they hold. In filings with the exchange, Hong Wei Investment Co (鋐維) said it would sell the 2.771 million Hon Hai shares it holds and Frontier Investment Corp (承鋒投資) said it would sell its 2.409 million Hon Hai shares from tomorrow until Jan. 3 next year. The two companies are wholly owned and chaired by Shirley Gou (郭曉玲), the eldest daughter of Hon Hai founder Terry
TARIFF TALKS: The US secretary of commerce is eyeing more than US$300 billion in investments and said Taiwan would train US workers, but Taipei has denied the latter US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the US is expecting a large investment pledge from Taiwan in trade talks, while President William Lai (賴清德) listed areas that need improvement in order for projects to be completed. “We’re in the midst of discussions,” Lutnick said on Wednesday. “But the fact is, this administration’s goal is to bring semiconductor manufacturing to America.” Lai on Wednesday said Taiwan is supportive of US President Donald Trump’s goal of reindustrializing the US, including efforts to ramp up semiconductor production. Such a goal would require the US to reduce its reliance on Taiwan as a key source
RSS