AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/26 Report--

According to media reports, Tesla China earlier this month adjusted the working week of employees at the Shanghai factory to five days from the original six and a half days, thus reducing production of Model Y and Model3, which may continue until April. Employees have not received a clear update on when to resume normal production. Tesla China has not responded to this for the time being.

Tesla's life in China is getting harder and harder.

In 2023, Tesla delivered 1.8086 million cars worldwide, "stepping on the line" to achieve the delivery target of 1.8 million. However, behind Tesla's successful completion of the 2023 sales target, it is inseparable from the sacrifice of profit for price for volume. In 2023, Tesla cut prices in the United States, Europe, China and other markets, which undoubtedly enhanced the competitiveness of Tesla models, and consumers were still willing to compromise for the price, but this also led to a decline in Tesla's gross profit margin. It fell from 19.3% in the first quarter to 17.6% in the fourth quarter.

There is no doubt that at present, Tesla's product competitiveness has been obviously insufficient, and Tesla's model upgrading speed is too slow. Generally speaking, a fuel vehicle will be revamped in about three years and replaced in about six years, while in the electric era, the frequency of electric cars is higher, and the retrofit of domestic electric cars will be shortened to two years and four years. Tesla, on the other hand, released Model 3 in 2016 and did not launch a change until 2023.

In the past, many Chinese electric cars would regard Tesla as a competitor or even a model, and surpassing Tesla became their primary goal, and from the current market performance, although the performance of most electric vehicles was not as good as Tesla, but from the perspective of core technology, it has indeed achieved transcendence. The reason why consumers are willing to choose Tesla is still based on brand awareness considerations. First of all, Tesla is a foreign brand. Secondly, it has been developed for long enough in the electric vehicle market.

In addition, Tesla was regarded as the "catfish of the electric car market" in the past, and his every move will be concerned by domestic and foreign car companies. In 2023, Tesla took the lead in setting off a price reduction storm in the electric vehicle industry, which not only won it more market share, but also made other car companies feel unprecedented pressure. In the face of Tesla's price reduction tide, many car companies have begun to adjust their pricing strategies to follow up the common phenomenon of price reduction in the industry. In 2024, BYD took the lead in opening the price, and Tesla also continued to give a large number of preferential policies, but obviously Tesla did not win much attention at this time, and the driving effect of price reduction on Tesla's sales is decreasing. The negative impact on performance is beginning to show. After all, if you can not even sell the price reduction, then Tesla may also be very difficult to come up with effective means to improve the market.

Not long ago, Tesla announced that the price of the Model Y model would be increased by 5000 yuan, and the current official car insurance subsidy policy of 8000 yuan and a maximum of 10000 yuan of car paint relief policy will also expire on March 31. According to the above algorithm, the sales said that the actual price increase of this price adjustment is up to 23000 yuan. While other car companies are cutting prices, Tesla is doing the opposite, which is not a way to verify the market, which may be a disguised measure to force orders, intended to boost sales at the end of the quarter. Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are both delivered in 2 to 6 weeks.

Car companies that "roll up" the trend of price cuts in China often want to "impulse with price", but Tesla's discount has not led to an increase in sales. Tesla's domestic retail sales in February were 30100, down 11 per cent from a year earlier, and deliveries totaled 70000 in the first two months of this year, up 15 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Federation. Consumers have a heavy wait-and-see mood on prices, and the positive incremental factors are not obvious in the short term. At that time, there will be a temporary downturn in sales and wait-and-see phenomenon, and the positive purchase effect brought about by the price reduction in the short term will be offset, but under the trend of a fierce price war in China's car circle, can Tesla keep himself against the trend?

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