Tesla Begins Model Y SUV Deliveries in China: What You Need To Know

Tesla Inc TSLA began making deliveries of Model Y vehicles in China on Monday.

What Happened: The Elon Musk-led company posted photographs of customers taking deliveries of the mid-sized electric sports utility vehicle on its Twitter feed.

欢迎! Model Y deliveries in China have officially begun pic.twitter.com/fG5aax1k2b

— Tesla (@Tesla) January 18, 2021

The initial Shanghai deliveries will be followed by other cities, according to Tesla, reported Xinhua — a Chinese government news agency.

Why It Matters: The Model Y went on sale in China at the beginning of 2021 and garnered enough orders to exhaust supplies for the first three months of 2021, according to Electrek. 

See Also: Mass Amount Of Tesla Model Y Vehicles Spotted At Gigafactory Shanghai, Appear Ready For Delivery

Priced at RMB 339,900 ($52,376) in China, analysts expect the SUV to boost Tesla’s Chinese sales and emerge as a disrupter in the East Asian country’s auto market this year.

The price of the vehicle is less than a tenth of similar gas-powered luxury cars made by the likes of Daimler AG DDAIF, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG BMWYY, and Volkswagen AG VWAGY, as per Reuters.

The vehicle will also threaten the growing dominance of homespun EV companies such as Nio Inc NIO, Xpeng Inc XPEV, BYD Company Ltd BYDDF, and Li Auto Inc LI.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed nearly 2.2% lower at $826.16 on Friday and fell almost 0.3% in the after-hours session.

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