Visitors wearing face masks check a China-made Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicle (SUV) at the electric vehicle maker’s showroom in Beijing, China.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
Tesla’s best-selling Model Y was included in a list of electric and plug-in hybrid models that a local government in China can purchase as a service car, according to the official Chinese media outlet The Paper on Thursday.
It was the first time Tesla’s cars have been made eligible for government purchases in China, The Paper added.
‘EV procurement’
China’s eastern Jiangsu provincial government published a statement on June 6, announcing 56 batches of EV procurements for use as service cars by party, government and public organisations.
Apart from the Model Y made in Tesla’s Shanghai factory and Volvo Cars’ XC40, the other 54 batches were all Chinese-branded EVs and hybrids. Volvo Cars is owned by Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
Neither the government nor Chinese media specified the number of Model Y cars the Jiangsu provincial government could buy.
Tesla’s cars were banned from entering some government and military compounds in China.
Industry endorsement
Restrictions were removed after Tesla fleet’s data collection won an endorsement from the country’s top auto industry association in April.
As demand for Chinese cars abroad is overshadowed by the prospect of tariffs and domestic competition intensifies, Tesla’s deliveries of China-made vehicles fell 9% in the first half compared with the same time in 2023.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s late April China trip to meet Premier Li Qiang, appears to have paid off.
