Tesla, after recent cuts, raises starting price of Model Y in China

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) -Tesla Inc has increased the starting price of its Model Y crossovers by 0.8% to 261,900 yuan ($38,577.11) in China, after the company’s aggressive price cuts at the beginning of the year ignited demand.

Tesla raised the price for the rear-wheel drive version of Model Y by 2,000 yuan from 259,900 yuan previously, according to the price information listed on the company’s Chinese website on Friday.

The U.S. automaker planned to step up output at its Shanghai plant over the next two months to meet demand stoked by aggressive price cuts on its best-selling models, Reuters reported previously.

Its market share in China’s battery electric car sector rose to 12.5% in January from 9% in December, according to a Reuters calculation based on industry data.

Tesla kept the prices for other versions of Model Y and the Model 3 cars unchanged.

($1 = 6.7890 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Muralikumar Anantharaman)