In what we’re sure is a sign of incredible demand (or at least, that’s what we’ll probably be told by the company), Tesla is slashing the minimum wait times on its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
The company’s website reflected the changes on Tuesday after Tesla “added to its electric vehicle inventory in Shanghai at its fastest pace ever in October”, Reuters reported on Tuesday morning, citing data from China Merchants Bank International.
The inventory build comes at a time when global auto companies are “bracing for a downturn” as monetary policy conditions globally are slowly grinding the gears of many economies to a crawl.
Tesla’s deliveries in China for October were down sequentially from the month prior and the news comes just days after the idea was floated in financial media about whether or not Tesla could export vehicles from Shanghai to the United States.
Recall, about three weeks ago, Tesla cut the price of some of its cars in China, first raising suspicions about a potential lack of demand days after Musk said the company would continue robust production regardless of whether or not the global economy slipped into recession.
At the time, Tesla slashed the price of its Model 3 and Model Y to 265,900 Chinese yuan ($36,615) from 279,900 yuan and to 288,900 yuan versus the previous price of 316,900 yuan.
The cuts offset price hikes that took place earlier in the year, which came as a result of higher input costs. “China is experiencing a recession of sorts,” CEO Musk said at the end of October.
The week prior, on a company conference call, Musk had said: “To be frank, we’re very pedal to the metal come rain or shine. We are not reducing our production in any meaningful way, recession or not recession.”
“The public at large realizes that world’s moving towards electric vehicles, and it’s foolish to buy a new gasoline car at this point because the residual value of that gasoline car is going to be very low. So, we’re in a very good spot.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s recession-proof but it’s recession-resilient, because basically the people of Earth have made the decision in large part to move away from gasoline cars,” he added.
Well now it’s starting to look as though Tesla may have more vehicles on its hands than it knows what to do with…
Tyler Durden
Tue, 11/15/2022 – 16:50
