The first shipment of Tesla Model 3 cars arrived in Shanghai on Friday, and it is expected that customer deliveries will begin as early as the end of the month, at least a week earlier than previously estimated, a report by domestic news site thepaper.cn said on Friday.
In a previous announcement on Twitter, Elon Musk said that Tesla will start deliveries in March at the earliest, while "April is more certain." According to the report by the paper.cn, since additional tariffs in China on cars imported from the US have been suspended since January 1, the demand in the Chinese market has been granted priority.
In a statement to Reuters on Friday, Tesla said Model 3 deliveries event in Shanghai marked a "significant milestone for the market," noting that Tesla expects its sales will revive after being hit by the China-US trade frictions in 2018.
According to the report by thepaper.cn, Shanghai port received more than 1,000 vehicles on Friday, most of which were the latest Model 3 vehicles. According to Shanghai Customs, this is the first large-scale Model 3 shipment arriving in Shanghai.
The latest Model 3 is a long-range real-wheel drive model especially designed for the Chinese market with a price tag of 433,000 yuan ($64,490). So far, it is the lowest price for a Tesla in the Chinese market.
A sales staff member of Tesla's Yizhuang store in Beijing told the Global Times that the first Model 3 shipment can be delivered to customers at the end of the month for orders made before January 1, and for orders placed so far in 2019, deliveries can be expected by the end of March.
