In order to boost demand in the sluggish electric vehicle market, Tesla announced price reductions in the mainland China market last Friday, in which the starting price of the domestically produced Model 3 was reduced to RMB 229,900 (same below), a reduction of more than 10%. This move immediately caused dissatisfaction among prospective Tesla car owners in China, and rights protection demonstrations broke out in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu and other places.
According to Tesla’s official website in China, the starting price of Model 3 dropped from RMB 265,900 to RMB 229,900, a decrease of 13.5%; the starting price of Model Y dropped from RMB 288,900 to RMB 259,900, a decrease of If it is 10%, it means that the prospective car owner who just bought a car will lose tens of thousands of yuan.
According to clips circulated on the Internet, a crowd in a Tesla store in Chengdu chanted “Repay the money, return our car.” Some netizens even pointed out that all the surrounding gifts, snacks and water given to customers by the store were taken away. The pure electric ATV car Cyberquad was also damaged.
And “Archyde.com” reported that about 200 new buyers of Model Y and Model 3 gathered at the delivery center in Shanghai to protest Tesla’s decision to cut prices for the second time in three months. One of the activists, surnamed Zhang, believes that “this may be a normal business practice, but this is not the way a responsible company should behave.”
Mr. Zhang said that the police facilitated talks between Tesla employees and prospective car owners involved in rights protection. At the meeting, the car owners put forward a list of demands, including an apology and compensation, and Tesla has agreed to respond before Tuesday.
In addition, rights defense demonstrations broke out in Shenzhen and Hangzhou. Videos taken in Beijing showed that police cars arrived at the Tesla store to disperse the crowd gathered outside.
A Tesla China spokesman told Archyde.com on Saturday that the company did not intend to compensate buyers who ordered before the latest price reduction. Tesla did not respond when asked about the recent rights demonstrations.
According to 2021 data, the Chinese market accounts for about one-third of Tesla’s global sales. Its Shanghai factory has about 20,000 employees and is the company’s most productive and profitable factory.
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