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| Tesla Model 3 2019.3.28/News1 © News1 Reporter Oh Jang-hwan |
It is noteworthy whether Tesla will lower the price of the model 3 long-range trim in the future as the government cut the subsidy for electric vehicle purchases of 60 million won or more in half from this year.
Model 3 Long Range is the most sold model among Tesla Model 3. The price is high at 65 million won, but it is a model that has caused a’Tesla boom’ as it has been able to offer significant discounts based on government subsidies.
According to industry sources on the 23rd, when the government announced the reorganization of subsidies for pollution-free vehicles (electric and hydrogen vehicles) that differentiated subsidies according to vehicle price ranges, changes are expected in Tesla’s price policy, which ranked first in the domestic electric vehicle sales. If the price is not lowered, subsidies for popular models are expected to be cut in half, which will put a brake on sales.
Since 2013, the government has introduced subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles (government expenses + local expenses) and has been providing certain subsidies regardless of the price of tea. However, from this year, with the aim of inducing electric vehicle price cuts and fostering popular low-end models, high-priced electric vehicles of 90 million won or more were excluded from support.
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| © News1 Designer Kim Il-hwan |
Therefore, no government subsidies are provided for Tesla Model S (long range performance), Mercedes-Benz EQC400, Audi e-Tron 55 Quattro, Jaguar Land Rover I-PACE, etc., with a shipping price of around 100 million won. This reflects the criticism of supporting more subsidies with taxes for EVs exceeding 100 million won.
The government also cut the subsidy for electric vehicles in the range of 60 million to 90 million won in half. This is the Tesla Model 3 Long Range Performance Trim. The price is 64.79 million won and 74.79 million won, respectively.
This is also interpreted as taking into account the criticism that Tesla took over 40% of government subsidies last year with the Model 3 ahead.
According to the Korea Automobile Industry Association, Tesla accounted for 55.2 billion won (43.2%) of the 127.9 billion won government subsidy for electric vehicles in the first half of last year. A total of 11,826 units were sold last year, most of which were Model 3 (10,13 units), of which the long range trim accounted for more than 60%.
The government maintained subsidies for electric vehicles under 60 million won as before. Currently, most of domestic electric vehicles are under 60 million won. Accordingly, it is analyzed that the benefits of subsidies for domestic cars are relatively large, and it is more advantageous to secure market share in the future compared to expensive imported electric cars such as Tesla, Benz, Audi, and BMW.
In fact, domestic cars are supported with a maximum of 8 million won per vehicle, although there are differences by trim even after the subsidy system reorganization.
Starting this year, subsidies will be set as △ fuel economy subsidy (up to 4.2 million won) △ mileage subsidy (2.8 million won) △ implementation subsidy (500,000 won) and energy efficiency subsidy (500,000 won). It was set at 7.8 million to 8 million won, GM Korea Volt 7.6 million won, and Renault Samsung Motors 702 million won.
The standard trim of Tesla Model 3 is also paid 6.68 million won, similar to that of domestic cars. On the other hand, the long range and performance were cut to 3.41 million won and 3.29 million won, respectively, half of the previous levels.
In particular, considering the additional subsidies for local governments, the long-range trim subsidy (based on Seoul) is reduced by nearly 60% from 12.5 million won to 5.13 million won. With this reorganization, additional local subsidies were also differentiated in proportion to national subsidies.
Last year, the model 3 long-range trim battery capacity was much larger and more subsidies were available, so it sold more than twice the base model (4528 units and 1877 units respectively as of the first half of last year), but the pattern is expected to change from this year.
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| Tesla’Model Y’displayed at Lotte Department Store’s Yeongdeungpo branch. 2021.1.13/News1 © News1 Kim Jin-hwan |
Experts predict that Tesla will adjust the model 3 long range price to less than 60 million won after examining the sales trend. When the popularity of a particular model exploded, Tesla quickly raised its price. However, it is observed that the reorganization of this subsidy can reduce the amount of 5 million won.
In fact, Tesla lowered the model 3 shipment price by 5 million won from 320,000 yuan to 290,000 yuan last year when the Chinese government restricted vehicles eligible for electric vehicle subsidies to less than 300,000 yuan (about 51 million won).
The model Y price, which Tesla recently announced for domestic launch, is also around 56 million to 66 million won overseas, but it is expected to be adjusted in accordance with the subsidy policy in Korea. This is because if the subsidies of local governments are taken into account, the amount of subsidies exceeding 60 million won will differ by up to 8 million won.
Lee Ho-geun, a professor at Daelim University, said, “Tesla has been actively discounting in China, while adjusting the price in consideration of government subsidies in Korea.” “As the government gave guidelines this time, it is expected that the price will be adjusted again. I can see it.”
However, some raise the possibility that Tesla believes in a strong fandom in Korea and will not adjust prices.
An Imports official said, “Many of the people who choose Tesla electric cars are not sensitive to the price because they are buying the title and image of’innovation icon’,” he said. “Tesla may not lower the price after looking at the atmosphere such as consumer surveys. Yes. Regardless of whether the price is lowered or not, the EV market share is expected to change.”
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| An electric vehicle charging station in a parking lot at a large shopping mall in downtown Seoul. 2021.1.21/News1 © News1 Reporter Lee Jae-myeong |