Tesla Model 3 and Y: What do the reduced delivery times indicate?

In China, Tesla is using the reduction of delivery times as a sales argument… due to the weak demand.

Every cloud has a silver lining! It’s all about how events are presented. This is why all major brands, whether automotive or otherwise, pay a lot for communication agencies.

Thus, faced with the collapse of its sales in China (-7% for the period January-May 2024 vs 2023), Tesla has tried everything: price cuts, lowering interest rates, options, leasing costs. Nothing works. The anti-American campaign hitting China is fierce and Tesla is bearing the consequences. It is also difficult to compete with just two models in the catalog – Model 3 and Model Y – when competitors are subsidized and very dynamic, often offering prices that are 30% cheaper for similar services and with much greater originality.

In China, the Tesla Model Y Propulsion is sold for 249,900 Yuans (€31,880) and the Model 3 starts at 231,900 Yuans (€29,500).

1 week wait only

The industrial model of Tesla relies on a highly streamlined production process: few options and configurations available. Therefore, Tesla produces and then sells. The logistics are simple, and discounts are quite limited. This is efficient and competitors are increasingly taking inspiration from it. With one key difference: they do not overproduce in order to keep stock very low.

Alas, Tesla is somewhat caught in its own trap, to the point that today it has put its Chinese factory in Shanghai on part-time work to stop production, due to the lack of necessary demand.

So much so that now, depending on your purchase location in China, delivery times are plummeting: from 1 to 6 weeks for the Model 3 and Model Y, which is a reduction of 2 weeks from previous delivery promises.

Buying a Tesla like you would an appliance on Amazon is the new trick from Tesla. Will consumers respond to this? Not sure.

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