On November 22, 2018, Tesla Inc. said it was cutting the prices of its Model X and Model S vehicles in China by between 12% and 26% as the company moved to blunt the effect of higher import costs.
The U.S. electric carmaker said the reductions were tied to escalating trade tensions between China and the United States, which had already led Beijing to impose extra tariffs on American imports, including automobiles.
In a statement, Tesla said: “We are absorbing a significant part of the tariff to help make our cars more affordable for customers in China.”
The company also said its newly opened pre-sales for the Model 3 in China were moving ahead. Tesla priced the dual motor all-wheel drive version from 540,000 yuan, or $77,928.83, while the performance version was listed at 595,000 yuan.
The exchange rate used in the report was $1 to 6.9294 Chinese yuan renminbi.
The price move underscored how Tesla was adjusting its China strategy as tariffs reshaped the cost of imported electric vehicles in one of its most important overseas markets.
