It appears Tesla will take advantage of insurance incentives to offer discounts to buyers in China, according to InsideEVs.
According to the company’s official Weibo page, the discounts will apply to inventory models, however, only in the case where the car insurance is provided by one of Tesla’s official partners in China.
While Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk continue to insist and emphasize that the automaker doesn’t have any issues with demand, it’s becoming clear that Tesla wants to boost that demand.
“I can’t emphasize enough, we have excellent demand for Q4, and we expect to sell every car that we make for as far in the future as we can see.” said Musk.
Clearly, there’s a difference between a “demand problem” and a “softening of demand.”
Notably, when you are significantly the global leader selling more EVs than others, small demand fluctuations may not impact you as much as other brands.
At any rate, Tesla is working to increase demand in China ahead of the end of the year, helping lead the company to record-breaking sales growth in 2022. This will all come amid a pandemic, economic and political turmoil, and war.
Tesla price cuts & referral program
Recently, Tesla reduced the prices of its Model 3/Y in China, and at the same time, the manufacturer began a new referral program.
According to Electrek, this marked the first time in some two years that Tesla lowered its prices.
If you’ve been looking closely, you’re probably aware that Tesla continues upping its prices even though critics have expressed demand concerns.
Regardless of the higher prices, Tesla delivered a record number of electric vehicles quarterly. Some Tesla models became the best-selling EVs in several countries.
That said, Tesla is adding a new insurance incentive to new EV purchases in China. The program has been tweaked to encourage consumers to get their orders in sooner.
Tesla’s insurance incentives
Based on information from Reuters, Tesla previously offered an insurance incentive worth 7,000 yuan ( $966) for orders set from October 1 through December 30, 2022.
The automaker raised the incentive to 8,000 yuan ($1104) for November orders, though it’s down to 4,000 yuan ($552) for December orders.
Buyers in China will receive a cash rebate for insurance coverage via Tesla’s insurance partners. They can use it to pick up an inventory model almost immediately.
