Tesla to raise prices in China, may increase again in December - sources

FILE PHOTO: A Tesla logo on a Model S is photographed inside of a Tesla dealership in New York

FILE PHOTO: A Tesla logo on a Model S is photographed inside of a Tesla dealership in New York

Published Aug 26, 2019

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INTERNATIONAL - US electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc will raise prices in China on Friday, earlier than planned, and is considering increasing prices again in December should Chinese tariffs on US-made cars take effect, people familiar with the matter said.

The people declined to be identified as the plan has not been made public. A Tesla representative did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Monday.

The company is among many impacted by Sino-US trade friction. It currently imports all the cars it sells in China and has had to adjust prices multiple times over the past year due to tariff changes.

Reuters reported this month that Tesla was considering to lift prices in China from September after the yuan weakened significantly against the US dollar. One person told Reuters on Monday that the automaker was bringing forward these plans to Aug. 30.

Both people said the automaker is now also mulling another price hike in December after China’s commerce ministry last week announced it would reinstitute tariffs of 25 percent on vehicles and 5 percent on auto parts which it suspended in December, in the latest tit-for-tat escalation of the trade war.

“Tesla will also try to ship more cars to China before December, before the tariff hikes,” said one of the people.

REUTERS

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