Tesla Begins Model Y SUV Deliveries in China: What You Need To Know

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) began making deliveries of Model Y vehicles in China on Monday.

What Happened: The Elon Musk-led company posted photographs of customers taking deliveries of the mid-sized electric sports utility vehicle on its Twitter feed.

欢迎! Model Y deliveries in China have officially begun pic.twitter.com/fG5aax1k2b

— Tesla (@Tesla) January 18, 2021

The initial Shanghai deliveries will be followed by other cities, according to Tesla, reported Xinhua — a Chinese government news agency.

Why It Matters: The Model Y went on sale in China at the beginning of 2021 and garnered enough orders to exhaust supplies for the first three months of 2021, according to Electrek. 

See Also: Mass Amount Of Tesla Model Y Vehicles Spotted At Gigafactory Shanghai, Appear Ready For Delivery

Priced at RMB 339,900 ($52,376) in China, analysts expect the SUV to boost Tesla’s Chinese sales and emerge as a disrupter in the East Asian country’s auto market this year.

The price of the vehicle is less than a tenth of similar gas-powered luxury cars made by the likes of Daimler AG (OTC: DDAIF), Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (OTC: BMWYY), and Volkswagen AG (OTC: VWAGY), as per Reuters.

The vehicle will also threaten the growing dominance of homespun EV companies such as Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO), Xpeng Inc (NYSE: XPEV), BYD Company Ltd (OTC: BYDDF), and Li Auto Inc (NASDAQ: LI).

Price Action: Tesla shares closed nearly 2.2% lower at $826.16 on Friday and fell almost 0.3% in the after-hours session.

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