Bloomberg: Tesla’s Made-in-China Model Y Threatens NIO’s Dominance

Tesla’s made-in-China Model Y threatens NIO’s growing dominance in the electric SUV segment of the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) market, according to Bloomberg analysts.

NIO, a 100% electric vehicle startup based in China, has been doing superbly lately. However, it took a bit of a gut punch when Citron Research made a bearish call on it, citing increased Tesla competition. NIO’s increased competition from Tesla will become more intense with the launch of Tesla’s newest vehicle in the country, its made-in-China Model Y. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts pointed out that Tesla’s locally made crossover would give NIO a run for its money. “Tesla’s brand cachet and wider distribution network could lift its Model Y unit sales above NIO’s,” Bloomberg reported.

The article also pointed out that competition from Volkswagen, Toyota, and Daimler is adding to the intensification as they start to shift some of their focus into making compelling EVs.

NIO’s CEO, William Li, spoke of a difference between the companies’ branding, making it seem as if he’s indifferent to the competition heating up around him. “There is a clear differentiation in branding,” Li said.

Yahoo! Finance noted that Tianfeng Securities predicted that Tesla will lower the price of its Model Y in China to $41,000 from its current price of $49,900 in the US. The firm believes that Tesla’s monthly Model Y sales could reach 30,000 units. In comparison, a NIO ES6 SUV starts at $54,000. Bloomberg‘s Steve Man said, “another wave of price cuts for premium electric vehicles in China may be on the horizon, stirring up what could be an intense rivalry.”

Earlier this month, Tesla registered its Model Y with the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which indicated its start of production there, following the final production permit from the Chinese government. In the tweet above, Ray4Tesla shared that Tesla China completed the filing of a made-in-China (MIC) Model Y, and noted that it was listed as registered with the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In his tweet, Ray shared two photos. The first was of a document that showed the Model Y’s filing with the Chinese government and the second was a Tesla Model Y with the made-in-China badge that is standard on each of the vehicles made by the Tesla Giga Shanghai factory.

More recently, a camouflaged prototype of what is thought to be the made-in-China Model Y was spotted doing road testing. Wu Wa shared a video on YouTube and noted that on November 6, he was passing by the west gate of Giga Shanghai on his way back to the original location. There, he saw a fully camouflaged car parked at the west gate ready to enter fir factory.

“I immediately realized that this car should be the MIC Model Y that everyone has been talking about recently, I quickly took out my camera to shoot, and when I ran to the bridge, the ‘camouflaged car’ had been slowly driving into the factory,” he noted in the video description.

In the tweet above, Moneyball shared that MII approved of Tesla’s made-in-China Model Y for sales, and also shared some specs:

• Length (mm) 4,750.
• Width (mm) 1,921.
• Height (mm) 1,624.
• Wheelbase (mm) 2,890.
• Total mass (kg) 2.415.
• Curb weight (kg) 1,997.
• Motor (kW) 137 (FW)/180 (RW).
• Max speed (km/h) 217.