Tesla to reveal Model S and X prices in China on Jan 6, deliveries to begin in H1 2023

Tesla's Model S and Model X are both expected to be priced at more than RMB 1 million in China and are expected to make a limited contribution to deliveries.

(File photo from Tesla Weibo)

Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) new Model S and Model X deliveries in China are finally not far away.

Tesla will announce the prices of the Model S and Model X in China on January 6, and their deliveries will begin in the first half of 2023, the electric vehicle giant said at the Guangzhou auto show today.

The company unveiled the Model S Plaid in the US in September 2020, powered by three electric motors that can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 1.99 seconds.

In early June 2021, Tesla began deliveries of the model in the US and removed the more capable Plaid + model.

At the end of November last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the Model S Plaid could come to China around March 2022. However, that never became a reality.

At the time, the Tesla China website showed the Model S Plaid priced at RMB 1,059,990 ($152,430). After that, Tesla's China website removed the price information for the Model S and the Model X.

On October 11, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced a catalog of new energy vehicles (NEVs) exempt from vehicle purchase tax, and the Model S and Model X were included.

At the time, local media reported that a Chinese consumer who had reserved the electric sedan received a notice from Tesla to make a final payment on the purchase in order to prepare for delivery.

The consumer, who previously reserved the model by paying RMB 20,000 and opted for the white interior, has to make a final payment of RMB 1,013,990, according to the report.

This means that the consumer's total expenditure for the Model S Plaid will be RMB 1,033,990.

It is worth noting that for Tesla, the upcoming deliveries of the Model S and Model X in China are not expected contribute significantly to its sales due to the high prices of these two models.

So far this year, sales of pure electric vehicles priced above 400,000 yuan have contributed just 1 percent of all car sales in China, according to data released earlier this month by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Tesla has a factory in Shanghai, its largest by capacity by far, that produces the Model 3 as well as the Model Y.

The electric vehicle giant sold 100,291 China-made vehicles in November, a single-month high, data released by the CPCA on December 5 showed. That includes 62,493 vehicles delivered in China, and 37,798 vehicles exported.

From January to November, Tesla delivered 397,844 vehicles in China, up 59.05 percent from 250,141 vehicles in the same period last year, CnEVPost's calculations show.