Tesla launches new ‘financial leasing’ product to buy cars with 0% down payment

Tesla has launched a new financial product called “financial leasing” that enables customers to buy its cars with no down payment.

It’s currently only available in China.

Over the weekend, Tesla updated its online configurator in China to add a new financing option when buying a vehicle online.

Along with cash or a loan, Tesla is now listing “Tesla Financial Leasing.”

The automaker wrote about the option (translated from Chinese):

“Purchase a car through Tesla’s official financial leasing (a joint service with Chuangfu Financial Leasing). After paying a certain down payment, monthly installments are paid and the right to use the vehicle is obtained. After the lease expires, the residual value is paid and the vehicle ownership is obtained.”

At first, it sounds like a fairly regular lease product, but it appears to be much more flexible than what Tesla is offering in other markets.

Customers can decide to put between 0% to 50% down payment and choose terms from 12 to 60 months:

It lowers the barrier of entry to get in a Tesla vehicle since customers can now “lease” a Model 3 Standard Range Plus through “Tesla Financial Leasing” for as low as ¥ 4,718 ($737) per month.

Through the same financial product, Tesla buyers can now also buy a new car with 12 monthly installments.

During Tesla’s latest earnings presentation, CFO Zach Kirkhorn highlighted that the automaker’s goal is to lower the price of electric vehicles in order to accelerate EV adoption, and he noted that they plan to achieve that in any way they can and not only through reducing production costs.

Kirkhorn noted that if they can reduce financial and insurance costs associated with owning their vehicles, they will also essentially reduce the cost of going electric.

Tesla is trying to achieve that with its new insurance product based on real-time data and now apparently also through this new “Tesla Financial Leasing.”