Discontinued 4680 battery? Tesla responded that "production is going smoothly", and the Chinese market has launched a "5-year 0 interest" car purchase policy, and the stock price has risen!

National Business Daily

2024-07-02 19:32The official account of National Business Daily

The full text is 1396 words, and it takes about 4 minutes to read

Highlight the point

01 Tesla's stock price rose 6% on Monday, hitting a new high in nearly three months, and its market value rose by $38.2 billion overnight, reaching a total market value of $669.285 billion.

02Launched new financial policies for car purchases in the Chinese market, including preferential car purchase policies for the Model 3/Y standard range version with zero interest and low interest for up to 5 years, and 0 interest and low interest rates for the Model 3/Y long-range all-wheel drive version.

03Tesla's sales in China fluctuated due to the fierce price war in the Chinese market, and it fell by 3.64% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024.

04In order to alleviate the pressure on operations, it is reported that Tesla will consider stopping the production of 4680 batteries at its GigaTexas factory in Texas and instead purchasing from external suppliers.

05 However, Tesla China said that the production of 4680 batteries is well underway.

Technical support is provided by Tencent Hybrid Model

Reporter: Dong Tianyi Intern reporter: Liu Xi Editor: Pei Jianru

Eastern time on Monday, Tesla's stock price rose more than 6% to close at $209.86, hitting a new high in nearly three months, and its market value rose by $38.2 billion overnight, with a total market value of $669.285 billion.

Image source: Sina Finance

Some analysts believe that Tesla's stock price has risen sharply or is related to its new financial policy for car purchases in China.

On July 1, according to Tesla's official Weibo news, in July, Tesla will provide consumers with triple benefits for car purchases, the first is to launch a maximum of 5 years of 0 interest and low interest preferential car purchase policies for the Model 3/Y standard endurance version, with a minimum daily payment of 85 yuan; The second is to launch a preferential policy for the Model 3/Y long-range all-wheel drive version with a maximum of 5 years of 0 interest and low interest on car purchases, with a minimum daily payment of 107 yuan; Finally, the annual interest rate for the limited-time low interest rate in July was reduced to 0.5% (equivalent to an annualized interest rate of 0.93%).

Image source: Sina Weibo (@特斯拉)

It is understood that in this preferential activity, the down payment of 79,900 yuan can choose a 5-year 0 interest plan, specific to different models of vehicles, the Model 3 rear-wheel drive version has a minimum daily supply of 85 yuan, and the long-range all-wheel drive version has a minimum daily supply of 107 yuan; The daily supply of the Model Y rear-wheel drive version is as low as 95 yuan, and the daily supply of the long-range all-wheel drive version is as low as 118 yuan. Compared with the previous standard annual rate of 2.5%, the Model Y can save up to more than 26,000 yuan in interest.

Tesla's new financial policy for car purchases in China may be closely related to the market pressure it is currently under. Under the impact of the fierce price war in China's auto market, Tesla's sales in China have also fluctuated.

According to public data, in the first quarter of 2024, Tesla's retail sales in the Chinese market will be about 132,400 units, digesting 30.57% of Tesla's global market production, but a year-on-year decrease of 3.64%; According to the data of the passenger association, in the first five months of this year, Tesla's sales in China fell by 0.5%.

The decline in sales has also had a big impact on Tesla's performance. According to official information, Tesla's total revenue in the first quarter was $21.301 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 9%; Net profit was US$1,144 million, down significantly from US$2,539 million in the same period last year, and net profit attributable to common shareholders was US$1,129 million, down 55% year-on-year. Operating margin also fell to 5.5% from 11.4% in the year-ago quarter.

Or in order to alleviate operational pressure, it was recently reported that due to poor energy density and charging performance and high cost, if the cost reduction cannot achieve the expected effect by the end of the year, Tesla will consider stopping the production of 4680 batteries at the GigaTexas factory in Texas and purchasing from external suppliers instead.

In this regard, the reporter of "Daily Economic News" asked Tesla China for verification, and the other party replied: "Tesla has mentioned at the June shareholders' meeting that the production of 4680 batteries is proceeding smoothly. ”

Image source: Photo by reporter Zhang Jian (data map)

In fact, as early as the beginning of this year, Tesla was involved in the price war. In January this year, Tesla's Model 3 refreshed version and Model Y both prices were reduced. Among them, the price of the refreshed version of the Model 3 was reduced to 245,900 yuan for the rear-wheel drive version, 285,900 yuan for the long-range version, and 258,900 yuan for the rear-wheel drive version of the Model Y, and 299,900 yuan for the long-range version.

Subsequently, on April 21, the price of Tesla's Model 3/Y/S/X was reduced by 14,000 yuan, of which the price of the new version of the Model 3 was reduced to 231,900 yuan, a decrease of 5.7%; The price of the new Model 3 long-range version dropped to 271,900 yuan, a decrease of 4.9%; On April 24, Tesla's official Weibo once again announced the launch of the "0 down payment" or "0 interest for a limited time" campaign, which is applicable to Model 3 and Model Y.

For Tesla's "5-year 0 interest" activity, rather than a direct price reduction, there is a view that it may be a signal that the "price war" in the auto market has cooled down. According to the data of the Passenger Association, in May this year, only 10 models were reduced in price, and the scale of price reduction is smaller than that of the same period in 2023. For comparison, in February this year, there were 29 models with price cuts, in March there were 49 models with price cuts, and in April the number of models with price cuts was as high as 54.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, believes that the number of price reduction models in May fell to a low level of 10, reflecting the temporary end of the "price reduction tide". With the significant reduction of price reduction models in May, the market has gradually returned to the normalized competition situation of promotion increments.

After several rounds of price reduction and promotional measures, Tesla's sales gradually recovered. On the evening of July 2, the latest sales data released by the Passenger Association showed that in June this year, the Shanghai Gigafactory delivered more than 71,000 vehicles, and Tesla's domestic sales exceeded 59,000 vehicles, an increase of 7% from the previous month. In the second quarter of this year, Tesla's domestic sales increased by 10.2% quarter-on-quarter.

National Business Daily

View original image 423K

• 

• 

•