Chinese Tesla Inc fans expecting to get the new, locally built Model 3 on the cheap have been dealt a surprise.
Tesla yesterday said that its China-made vehicles would start at US$50,000 in the nation, only about 3 percent less than what the most basic imported models have been selling for after the US company decided to include the Autopilot driver-assistance software in each vehicle.
Variants without Autopilot are to be phased out in China.
The first vehicles to be produced outside the US are part of Tesla chief executive Elon Musk’s efforts to expand in Asia and take on local electric-vehicle upstarts.
The pricing suggests Musk is trying to maintain Tesla’s premium image in the world’s largest auto market, leaving local competitors to compete for buyers of cheaper vehicles.
“It might affect the choices of some potential customers, but not much,” consultancy AutoForesight founder and chief executive Yale Zhang (張豫) said. “The product’s target group is not that price-sensitive compared with those choosing much cheaper ones.”
Tesla is nearing the launch of its China-made models just 10 months after breaking ground on its facility near Shanghai. It would be the first time a wholly owned foreign automaker has made a vehicle in China.
Deliveries of the locally made variants with Autopilot are to begin in the first quarter of next year, the company said in a statement.
The cheapest imported Model 3s, without Autopilot, have been selling for about US$51,500 in China, while in the US the model’s starting price is about US$39,000.
Chinese rival NIO Inc (蔚來汽車) charges US$47,800 in China for a basic version of its ES6 sport utility vehicle after state subsidy.
Electric vehicles from other local contenders such as BYD Co (比亞迪) typically go for much less.
Tesla could also sell some early versions of China-made Model 3s that do not have Autopilot, though it has not disclosed the exact timing or pricing for those.
The company said it plans to phase out models without Autopilot in China and no longer takes orders for such variants.
The company is also to stop selling the most basic imported Model 3 in China, meaning customers who want a US-made Tesla would need to pay at least US$62,000, which buys an all-wheel drive variant without Autopilot.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
RSS