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Tesla has rescinded a discount on the performance edition of its Shanghai-made Model Y sport-utility vehicle (SUV), just 10 weeks after the US carmaker slashed the price to lure mainland consumers.
The increase comes after Tesla reported a 32.8 per cent month-on-month sales decline on the mainland in September.
The car is priced at 363,900 yuan (US$49,735) as of Friday, up 14,000 yuan from Thursday, Tesla China announced on its website. The company had slashed the price by 14,000 yuan to 349,900 yuan on August 14.
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"The price change reflects that Tesla is shifting its focus to profitability from sales volume in China," said Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai. "The price cut will ease pressure on some Chinese rivals such as Nio and Xpeng."
A truck transports new Tesla cars at its factory in Shanghai, China on May 13, 2021. Photo: Reuters alt=A truck transports new Tesla cars at its factory in Shanghai, China on May 13, 2021. Photo: Reuters>
Tesla did not give reasons for the price hike and made no further price changes.
The company adjusts the prices of its locally built vehicles regularly based on production costs, Grace Tao, Tesla's head of communications and government affairs in China, said on Weibo in January.
Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory delivered 43,507 units to mainland customers in September, down 32.8 per cent from a month earlier, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on October 11.
At present, Tesla remains the leader in China's premium electric vehicle (EV) segment, trailed by three top domestic start-ups - Li Auto, Nio and Xpeng - all of which assemble intelligent EVs featuring autonomous driving technology, sophisticated digital cockpits and high-performance batteries.
Beijing-based Li Auto, Tesla's nearest rival in mainland China, handed a record 36,060 vehicles to customers in September, up 3.3 per cent from the previous month.
A handful of SUVs including Xpeng's G6, Nio's ES6 and Li Auto's L7 are viewed as rivals to Tesla's Model Y.
Tesla fired the first salvo in an EV price war in China last October. It then followed up with another round of discounts in January, prompting dozens of rival EV makers and conventional manufacturers to slash prices to retain market share.
But the discounts failed to increase sales because budget-conscious consumers held back, hoping for even deeper price cuts.