Trade war fallout: Tesla raises price of Model 3 in China
Tesla raised prices for several of their electric car models in China after the yuan dropped to its weakest amount in over a decade, just as the U.S.-China trade war heats up.
The U.S. company’s Model X is now going for 809,900 yuan, or about $114,186, compared to the previous 790,900 yuan price tag prior to the recent tariff jump.
As for the Model 3, Tesla increased the price 10,000 yuan from its previous baseline cost of 429,900 yuan for a current total of 439,900 yuan, according to the company’s Chinese language website.
The trade war between the U.S. and China has caused a handful of price changes for Tesla recently, as Tesla imports all of its cars that it sells to China. With China allowing the yuan to fall behind the U.S. dollar in early August, the cost of importing has been raised accordingly.
The Trump administration has accused China of being a currency manipulator, a claim China has vehemently denied.
This will likely not be the last price hike in China for Tesla this year, as China looks to start imposing tariffs on U.S.-made cars beginning in December.
Meanwhile, Tesla is currently in the process of opening up a factory in Shanghai, the company's first factory overseas, in a move that will could help stabilize its prices in China and lessen the impact of the trade war on them.
The Shanghai Tesla factory is expected to begin production at the end of this year, with 3,000 Model 3 cars to be built there per week, according to Tesla.
China has proven to be a relatively lucrative market for Tesla, having sold just shy of 24,000 vehicles just in the first seven months of this year alone, 17,451 of which were Model 3 cars, automotive sale forecaster LMC Automotive reports.
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