Korea is treated poorly even though it sells well… Tesla car owners are angry

Tesla excludes Korea from global price cuts
Price cut for Model 3 and others by 2.65 million won in Japanese and Chinese markets
Consumers “receive poor treatment just because it sells well in Korea”
“Cybertruck, which was said to be coming to Korea, will only be introduced to China and Japan.”

There is controversy as the price of Tesla’s new Model 3, which was launched in Korea early this month, was found to be up to 5 million won more expensive than in Japan. This is because Tesla excluded the Korean market when it lowered global vehicle prices in the US, China, and Japan on the 21st.

According to the Tesla website, the domestic Model 3 price on the 25th is 51.99 million won for rear-wheel drive (RWD), 59.99 million won for long range, and 67.99 million won for performance. There is no change from the price launched earlier this month.

On the other hand, Tesla recently lowered the price of Model 3 by about 300,000 yen (about 2.65 million won) in Japan. △Rear-wheel drive (RWD) 5.31 million yen (about 47 million won) △Long range 6.21 million yen (about 55 million won) △Performance 7.25 million yen (about 64 million won). As of last year, Japanese electric vehicles receive government subsidies of about 650,000 to 850,000 yen (5.7 million to 7.5 million won). Based on the pure vehicle price alone, Korean Model 3 consumers are paying about 5 million won more expensive than Japanese customers.

Tesla also reduced the starting price of Model 3 by 14,000 yuan (about 2.65 million won) in the Chinese market. Currently, the price is 231,900 yuan (about 44 million won) for rear-wheel drive (RWD), 271,900 yuan (about 51.5 million won) for long range, and 335,900 yuan (about 63.6 million won) for performance. The price difference between Model 3 in Korea and China amounts to 8 million won.

An industry official said, “China, where the Tesla factory is located in Shanghai, is basically bound to have lower vehicle prices than Korea,” and added, “It is unusual that the price difference between Korea and Japan, which equally import Tesla vehicles from China, has widened by 5 million won.” He then analyzed, “Tesla appears to be experiencing sluggish sales in the Japanese market.”

Currently, Tesla’s domestic vehicle prices are similar to the Australian market. According to Tesla, Australia and Korea rank second and third in sales, respectively, in the Asia-Pacific market. 1st place is China. According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, last month, Tesla SUV Model Y RWD sold 5,934 units in Korea, ranking first among monthly imported cars. The new Model 3 is also expected to continue this sensation. There is no reason for Tesla to lower its prices in the Korean market, where it is selling well.

Mr. A, a Tesla car owner in his 40s living in Seoul, said, “Recently, Korean consumers are being treated poorly due to Tesla’s aggressive marketing in the Japanese market.” He added, “Tesla launched the Model 3 late in the Korean market, where sales are several times higher than in Japan. He pointed out, “The promotional cybertruck that was supposed to arrive in March was also sent to Japan first.”

▶’Teslam X Lab’
We bring you some small but interesting news about Tesla and Musk, who will lead the ‘mobility revolution’ in the 2020s. Issues of ‘Tesla fans’ that are not covered by the established media are also of interest. You can receive articles every week by subscribing to the reporter page below.

Reporter Baek Soo-jeon [email protected]