Tesla launched a new financing package to promote its electric vehicles (EVs) and charging products, following its battery export shipment from its Shanghai Megafactory - underscoring growing synergy between the Chinese and US auto industries.
The month-long promotional event includes favorable financing options for Model 3 and new Model Y buyers, such as zero- or low-interest loans for three to five years, and discounts for its charging piles and other services, Tesla's social media statement said.
Tesla's promotional activities are relatively moderate in intensity, and their main purpose is to stabilize Tesla's sales in the Chinese market and to cope with the changes in market strategy brought about by the new Model Y, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Experts noted that the promotions align with China's push for green mobility. Tesla sold a record 657,000 EVs in China in 2024, up 8.8 percent year-on-year, while its global sales declined by 1.1 percent.
Tesla's China sales hit record high in 2024, bucking global decline
In terms of the global total, 36.7 percent of Tesla vehicles were delivered to Chinese buyers, as China has become its second-largest market, Tesla's fiscal report said on January 3, 2025.
Tesla launched production at its new Megafactory in Shanghai for its energy storage system, the first of its kind built by Tesla outside the US, on February 11. The first batch of Megapack energy storage systems produced at the Shanghai facility were set to depart the port heading for Australia on March 21, according to a statement Tesla sent to the Global Times.
The Megafactory has an initial annual production capacity of 10,000 units, or roughly 40 gigawatt-hours of energy storage. Tesla expects a 50 percent year-on-year increase in energy storage deployments in 2025, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Tesla said in the statement sent to the Global Times that the Shanghai-produced batteries will serve both China and the broader Asia-Pacific market. The company noted the Megapack shipment reflects its expanding presence in the global energy storage market and the broader application of its battery technology beyond EVs.
Zhang Xiang, director of the Digital Automotive International Cooperation Research Center of the World Digital Economy Forum, told the Global Times on Tuesday that China and the US have complementary strengths in the automobile industry.
In addition to China's massive consumer market and manufacturing strength, Chinese and US automobile industries have vast cooperation potential in new-energy vehicle technology development and business investment, Zhang said.
China boasts great consumption potential as well as a complete industrial chain, which have attracted increasing foreign enterprises, including Tesla, to tap into more cooperation opportunities in China, said Cui.
During the recently concluded China Development Forum 2025, China reaffirmed its commitment to innovation-driven high-quality development and global cooperation against the backdrop of global economic fragmentation and rising uncertainties, as multiple leaders of foreign enterprises attended the forum and said that they were optimistic about China's further opening for business and growth.
