By Gabby Chen

Tesla, the global EV leader, may introduce new models for localization to take on Chinese rivals such as BYD and other EV startups, reported the business news website Anue on January 7.

Tesla's CEO Elon Musk said a year ago that Tesla's biggest competitor would come from China, and now his words seem to have come true.

As the most threatening competitor to Tesla, China's EV giant BYD released the luxury brand Yangwang priced at more than RMB1 million ($145,500) last week to challenge Tesla's high-end car status.

Meanwhile, other Chinese EV startups are also seeking to rival Tesla. Their competing products for Tesla's Model 3 include Zeekr 001, NIO ET5, NETA S, and BYD Seal, while its Model Y has similar models such as the Avita 11 and Xpeng G9.

Tom Zhu, Tesla's China chief, has recently been promoted to take direct oversight of the electric carmaker's US assembly plants and sales operations in North America and Europe. He led a team to the US to help its local factory to boost production capacity. Another possible task for him might be introducing new models for localization, said the Anue report.

So far, Tesla has announced two price reductions in China to boost sales. It slashed prices for Model 3 and Model Y on January 6 with starting prices of RMB229,900 ($33,923) and RMB259,900 ($38,350), respectively, hitting the historic low of Tesla's China-made cars.

According to data revealed by China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), Tesla sold over 710,000 vehicles in 2022, up 48% year-on-year. Delivery of Model Y at Tesla's Shanghai factory exceeded 450,000 units of Model Y last year, and its Model 3 surpassed 250,000.

It is reported that the top three NEV manufacturers ranked by sales were BYD, SAIC-GM-Wuling, and Tesla from January to November 2022. Their deliveries grew 220.9%, 7.1%, and 59% year-on-year, respectively.

In addition, the estimated annual wholesale orders of new energy passenger vehicles in 2022 totaled nearly 6.49 million in the Chinese market, growing 96% compared with 3.31 million in 2021, said CPCA.