While announcing price increases and providing subsidies, Tesla's "combination punch" has misled netizens. On November 28th, Tesla China's official website showed that the price of the Model Y Long Range Edition was increased by 2000 yuan, and the adjusted price was 306400 yuan. Previously, Tesla had raised prices four times within a month.
However, at the same time as this price increase, Tesla has also announced two car purchase discounts. Among them, the limited time current car insurance subsidy is for users to purchase and deliver the Model 3/Y rear wheel drive version of their current car before the end of this year, and enjoy a limited time insurance subsidy of 8000 yuan; The limited time and low interest financial policy is to purchase and pick up all models of S3XY before the end of this year. The 3-year and 5-year preferential interest rate loan schemes have an annual fee rate as low as 2.75%, and can save up to about 11500 yuan. Tesla's rise and fall have sparked heated discussions among netizens, with some saying, "How can a price increase be accompanied by disguised discounts? What is this operation?"
Since the beginning of this year, Tesla has frequently played a price reduction card, with the prices of Model 3 and Model Y dropping to a low point. Among them, the starting price of Model 3 was once as low as 229900 yuan. The driving effect brought by the price reduction is gradually becoming apparent. Data shows that in the first 10 months of this year, Tesla's Shanghai super factory delivered a total of 771000 vehicles, exceeding the full year of last year. However, while sales have steadily increased, Tesla's earning power has raised an alarm. The financial report shows that Tesla's gross profit margin declined to 17.9% in the third quarter of this year. Yan Jinghui, a member of the Expert Committee of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, stated that the decline in Tesla's gross profit margin is closely related to its large-scale price cuts since the beginning of this year. Choosing to raise prices will help Tesla improve its gross profit margin.
In addition, after entering the fourth quarter, Tesla has successively refreshed its Model 3 and Model Y models. After the new car was launched, it boosted Tesla's sales but also increased the pressure on its production line, leading to a continuous increase in production costs. Tesla has revealed that "significant upgrades have been made to many product configurations, and supply shortages have become the norm. This is also an important reason for the price increase of the Model Y Long Range Edition and the consecutive price increases of other models before."
However, the current global competition in the new energy vehicle market is particularly fierce, and in order to boost sales, car companies are lowering prices to increase sales. In November this year, Zero Run announced a price reduction for all models, with a maximum subsidy of 10000 yuan set from November 1st to 30th; BYD has also announced a limited time deposit purchase promotion for multiple models under its umbrella; Euler Motors, a subsidiary of Great Wall Motors, offers a limited time discount of 30000 yuan for its "Lightning Cat" model. Not only in the Chinese market, there are reports that the average selling price of new energy vehicles in the UK automotive market in November this year was 11% lower than the suggested retail price.
The person in charge of Tesla said, "Tesla insists on cost pricing." However, after some car companies opened the price reduction window, the outside world began to worry about whether Tesla's price increase operation would affect sales. Data shows that in the first three quarters of this year, Tesla delivered over 1.32 million vehicles globally, exceeding last year's total sales. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has set a sales target of 1.8 million vehicles for the entire year, which means Tesla needs to deliver nearly 500000 vehicles within three months. Previously, Tesla had previously announced a price increase in advance, which was seen by the outside world as a stimulus for wait-and-see consumers to purchase cars. Currently, with only one month left until the end of the year's sales, the introduction of subsidy policies is undoubtedly a last resort. Tesla bluntly stated, "In December this year, Tesla will launch its final sprint towards the '1.8 million annual sales target' from various dimensions."
"Although Tesla's model prices have increased, the last month of this year is the final golden period for car purchases." A Tesla showroom staff member calculated to a Beijing Business Daily reporter, using the Model Y rear wheel drive version as an example, in addition to receiving a limited time insurance subsidy of 8000 yuan and saving more than 8400 yuan in low interest discounts, they can also enjoy a limited time referral policy including 1750 yuan, which can be converted into a car purchase discount of over 18000 yuan. At the same time, starting from next year, the purchase tax subsidy will be reduced. At that time, purchasing some Tesla models will require paying approximately 20-44000 yuan in taxes.