Tesla opens Chinese preorders for cheaper model 3s made in China
Tesla has begun to take the preorders of Model 3 cars manufactured at its new Gigafactory in Shanghai, China. Bloomberg reports that the cars available to order exclusively in China will have a base price of 328,000 yuan ($ 47,510), 13 percent cheaper than the model imported from the US at a price of 377,000 yuan ($ 54,616) . The Model 3 models manufactured in China are the Standard Plus version of the vehicle with a range of 460 km (286 miles). Tesla says it expects to start delivering from the Shanghai factory over the next six to ten months.
Tesla began delivering model 3 deliveries in China back in March. These locally-produced cars will allow the company to avoid import tasks, which are more of a problem as the Trump administration's trade war with China intensifies. The company has also said that changing production will allow it to make deliveries faster. CEO Elon Musk described the challenge of sending his cars globally from the company's single Nevada factory as "the most difficult logistics problem [he’s] has ever seen," during the company's latest earnings call.
In addition to its Chinese ambitions, the company announced that it now accepts Model 3 preorders in six more markets; Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Irelend and Macau.
Tesla is working hard to raise deliveries after a difficult period for the company, which saw deliveries fall from 90,000 to 63,000 in one quarter. As a result, the company broke its profitable race to make a loss of $ 702 million. Earlier this month, Musk said the company would run out of money in 10 months if it didn't make "hardcore" changes.
Tesla just started building the Shanghai Gigafactory in early January, making the six-ten month delivery schedule aggressive, even for Tesla. Longer versions of model 3 and Tesla's other cars will still be imported from the US instead of being produced in China.