BEIJING，September 30 (TMTPOST)— Tesla dismissed recent rumor about massive price cut in China，the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) giant’s largest overseas market.
Source: Visual China
Tesla will soon significantly trim prices for its Model 3 and Model Y SUV made in the Gigafacotry Shanghai，Huxiu.com，Chinese business and tech media outlet，citing multiple separate sources on Friday. According to these sources，the prices for Model Y are expected to reduce up to RMB40,000 (US$5620)，and following these adjustments，the starting price of Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD)，an entry-level variant of Tesla’s affordable model，could be lowered to RMB270,000 to RMB290,000.
The news about upcoming price cut is untrue，Tesla China to Chinese digital media outlet The Paper later Friday. And the company’s customer service also said they didn’t receive any notices about it.
Currently，two versions of Model 3—Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) and Model 3 Performance were sold at RMB279,900 and RMB367,900 respectively，while Model Y RWD，Model Y Long Range and the Model Y Performance cost RMB316,900，RMB394,900 and RMB417,900 respectively，Tesla China’s website showed.
Huxiu noted Tesla China has indirectly lowered prices in mid September as it announced a new promotion，which allows customers who buy any new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles delivered from September 16 to 30 to enjoy one-time subsidy of RMB8,000 for their final payment，if they choose full coverage insurance for these cars.
Many people speculated Tesla would officially launch price slashes when the abovementioned promotion ended in October，as Tesla leveraged the subsidy to pave way for its future cuts，The Paper said. Some industry insiders also estimated the long-awaited price cuts of Tesla China will come given the upgrade of Shanghai factory in July expected to considerably shorten delivery time for Model 3 and Model Y.
Tesla Shanghai factory has just completed the second stage of upgrade for production lines in beginning of this September and began tests until November，30，according to the Shanghai municipal government’s environmental information disclosures platform. The company intends to lift annual production capacity to 1 million units through the factory’s expansion，more than doubling over 480,000 vehicles made in the Shanghai factory last year.