Tesla expands locally made line-up, blunting trade war
impact
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[April 10, 2020] BEIJING
(Reuters) - U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc <TSLA.O> said on
Friday it has started China sales of two more Model 3 variants built at
its Shanghai plant, meaning all Model 3 sedans sold in the country are
now locally made and not subject to import tax.
The development comes at the tail end of a Sino-U.S. trade war
characterised by tit-for-tat tariffs on goods and services as varied as
metals and cars, which bumped up prices of U.S. made goods in China.
It also comes after Tesla suspended production at its San Francisco Bay
Area plant due to the broader impact of the coronavirus, with plans to
resume normal operation on May 4.
Tesla said it aims to start delivering Shanghai-made Long Range Model 3
cars from June this year, priced 339,050 yuan after subsidies.
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The rear-wheel drive variant, with a driving range of over 600
kilometres before needing to be recharged, differs from the imported
version which was all-wheel drive and priced 439,900 yuan.
The locally made Performance Model 3, for which deliveries are slated
for the first quarter next year, will be priced 419,800 yuan, the
California-based automaker said without specifying the price after
subsidies. Imported Performance Model 3 vehicles were priced 509,900
yuan.
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![](../images/041020pics/busine35.jpg)
A Tesla logo is seen at a groundbreaking ceremony of Tesla Shanghai
Gigafactory in Shanghai, China January 7, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song
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The move contrasts with a previous plan from Tesla's billionaire chief
executive, Elon Musk, under which the automaker would only make more affordable
versions of the Model 3 sedan at its $2 billion Shanghai factory.
Tesla sold 10,160 vehicles in China in March, versus 3,900 in February, marking
its highest-ever monthly sales in the world's largest auto market, industry data
showed.
Tesla also said it will cut the pay of global vice presidents in China by 30%
and that of China-based director-level executives by 20%, to be consistent with
operations in the United States. Salaries of other China-based staff are
unchanged, it said.
(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Se Young Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman
and Christopher Cushing)
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