Tesla has launched a new “Ownership Loyalty Program” with some significant discounts – something that CEO Elon Musk has said Tesla wouldn’t do. But the program is only in China for now.
Aside from the $1,000 discount with the now defunct referral program and other discounts on display models, loaners, and test drive vehicles, Tesla made a policy of always offering the same prices everywhere, aside from the difference in exchange rates and import duties.
CEO Elon Musk referred to it as a “no negotiation and no discount policy,” which differentiate Tesla from the dealership model. However, we have seen the automaker deviate from the policy at times, especially during end-of-quarter delivery pushes.
But now Tesla is taking an even bigger step away from the policy by launching a new “Ownership Loyalty Program” that includes some significant discounts (Ray4Tesla via on Twitter).
Tesla is telling owners of all current models that if they decide to upgrade to a new vehicle, they will receive these three incentives:
- Full Self-Driving (FSD) package at half price – save 32,000 yuan (equivalent to ~$4,750 USD)
- 15,000 km of free Supercharging
- Home Charging Service Package – save 8,000 yuan (equivalent to ~$1,200 USD)
These add up to quite a significant discount that might make Tesla drivers outside of China jealous if the automaker doesn’t decide to expand the program outside the country.
The FSD discount is also interesting because there’s an asterisk to it: To get the discount, the trade-in needs to have either Enhanced Autopilot or Full Self-Driving package.
Tesla owners have been asking for years to have their FSD package be transferable to a new purchase. While Tesla is not going as far as doing that here, it is the closest it has ever been.
Free Supercharging of 15,000 km (9,300 miles) is also significant and a lot more than the 1,000 miles that Tesla used to offer as part of the referral program.
Electrek’s Take
This is a surprising move from Tesla. Is the automaker finally having some demand issues in China? If there’s anywhere in the world where Tesla has strong competition, it’s definitely in China.
This is more than $6,000 in value that Tesla is giving owners to upgrade right now, but it’s likely a good deal for the automaker too, considering how strong the used car market is right now.
Also, I am not sure if that’s the case in China, but Tesla is not always the one giving out the best prices for its own cars in trade-ins. That’s something to take into account with the new $6,000 Ownership Loyalty Program.
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