Tesla to build a plant in China by 2018, exec says
China is not only the largest auto market in the world, but it is also seen to soon become the biggest one for electric vehicles, as sales of new EVs more than quadrupled last year to 330,000 cars. And Tesla will definitely seize the moment, considering its bold production targets of making 500,000 electric cars by 2018. Moreover, by then, it aims to start building cars in China at its own plant, according to Robin Ren, vice-president of Tesla and president of its Asia-Pacific region who told China Daily about the company’s plans, without providing though further details.
Such strategy would help the automaker avoid import tariffs of at least 25 percent and hit its goals of keeping a “global pricing" policy. However, the affordable 35,000-dollar electric sedan will have a much higher price tag when it will go on sale in China, of about 400,000 yuan (60,732 dollars), because of tariffs and the currency exchange rate.
Ren also revealed that Tesla’s Model X will be available for order in China near the end of this month, way much sooner than initially intended, driven by the huge number of reservations it received for the Model 3. He also said the company just signed a contract with Beijing municipal government to locate its headquarters in the city, where it opened its sales office in 2014, the year when the carmaker entered the Chinese market.