With dwindling sales in Asia, Tesla is again trying to appeal to prospective customers with lower prices, this time in Singapore, a country notorious for its massive car taxes.
According to Reuters, Tesla will offer up to $10,000 in discounts on Model 3 and Model Y units in existing inventory, as well as a free wall connector for charging for buyers who have a place for home installation (the buyer still has to pay for the cost of installation, however).
The $10,000 price cut is made up of a $5,000 discount offered for customers who trade in an existing internal combustion engine car, and a $5,000 credit against the cost of the certificate to operate a car in Singapore.
Before applying Tesla’s discount, a Model Y in Singapore starts at $91,990, but this is without the taxes associated with owning a car in the Southeast Asian country. After these are taken into account, the price skyrockets to $142,601, so a reduction of $10,000 represents just 7 percent of the total cost.
In China, Tesla experienced disappointing sales in December, with a 44% slowdown in shipments compared to November, although year-over-year, the American EV manufacturer saw an increase of more than 50%.
This slowdown in shipments prompted Tesla to cut prices in China by as much as 13.5% in an attempt to boost sales, a move that angered customers who ordered their cars before the company announced its new pricing strategy.
According to CleanTechnica, Tesla was the best-selling EV brand in Singapore in the September-November period of 2022, with a total volume of 367 units, which again goes to show just how strong the country’s grip on controlling the car population is. Of the 367 cars sold, 315 were Model Ys and 52 were Model 3s.
On a global scale, Tesla delivered just over 405,000 cars in the fourth quarter of 2022, with last year’s total coming to 1,313,851 cars.
