Tesla China Cancels Zero Down Payment Offer Fearing Delivery Delays

The program brought in too many orders, so it was pulled back only three days after launch.

Tesla Model 3 Online Configurator China

Dan Mihalascu

By: Dan Mihalascu

Nov 5, 2021 at 6:24am ET

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Tesla has canceled the 0% down payment leasing offer in China on November 4, only three days after its introduction, with the new minimum down payment now being 10%.

The news comes courtesy of Chinese news agency Sina Finance via Sawyer Merritt. The outlet cited information from Tesla China according to which the zero down deal resulted in a massive increase in vehicle orders. This caused the company to become concerned about potential delays on the estimated delivery dates of its EVs.

The new financial product launched on November 1 and then canceled abruptly allowed customers to lease Tesla vehicles with zero down payment for a period of 1–5 years. During the contract, the client would have only paid monthly installments and returned the vehicle to Tesla when the lease term expired.

Still, the 10% down payment is not a bad deal at all for the locally made Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, which are hailed as two of China’s best electric cars. The company also offers a 20% down payment lease deal that obviously results in lower monthly installments.

Tesla China’s online configurator currently shows an estimated delivery date of 6–10 weeks for the Model 3 Standard Range Plus and a fourth quarter date for the Model 3 Performance. By canceling the 0% down payment program, Tesla is probably looking to avoid possible backlogs in its vehicle deliveries early next year.

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Tesla’s made-in-China models are seeing strong demand in the world’s largest car (and EV) market. According to data released by China’s Federation of Passenger Transport, Tesla sold 33,033 Model Y crossovers and 19,120 Model 3 sedans in the Chinese market in September 2021, a record high in monthly sales.

In other news, Tesla’s activities in China are expanding rapidly. Following the opening of a new R&D center and data center at the Gigafactory Shanghai complex, rumors of a possible second EV plant have started to emerge. While several Chinese cities were said to compete to host it, Tesla China VP Grace Tao publicly denied the rumor, dismissing the reports as untrue.