Tesla makes people guess made-in-China Model 3 price ahead of announcement

Tesla is apparently preparing to announce the price of its made-in-China Model 3 later this week, but in the meantime, the automaker wants people to guess how much the electric car will cost.

Over the last few months, Tesla started selling and delivering Model 3 in China, but it has only been offering the higher-end versions of the vehicle for sale.

CEO Elon Musk previously said that Tesla plans to use its upcoming new manufacturing capability in China with the Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai to build the lower-end versions of the vehicle domestically and avoid import tariffs.

Yesterday, we reported that Tesla has a mysterious new ‘surprise’ announcement coming in China later this week.

Now a day later, the automaker is launching a guessing game for the price of the Model 3 made in China:

The company wrote about the contest on its Weibo account (translated from Chinese on Google):

“The protagonist of “Don’t Expect” yesterday is the Model 3 made in China. Click on the O web link and enter your guess for the domestic version of Model 3, you will get clue numbers to help “crack” the final price of TA. Forward this Weibo and clue numbers, invite friends to play together, and everyone will have the opportunity to receive Tesla’s special gift on Children’s Day!”

According to Bloomberg, Tesla is aiming to price the made-in-China Model 3 at 300,000 yuan ($43,400) and 350,000 yuan ($50,600) before subsidies.

Electrek’s Take

I expect that it means Friday’s announcement will be pricing and availability of a new version of the Model 3 made in China, but I am still hoping for a potentially slightly different version for the market.

Either way, it seems a little early to announce pricing and presumably start taking orders for a version of the vehicle that won’t go into production for at least another four months.

It would likely affect Model 3 sales in China in the meantime even though the higher-end version wouldn’t be affected by the new domestic pricing.

Let’s see what this is all about on Friday.