Tesla announces upcoming launch of Model S and Model X in China

Tesla has announced the upcoming launch of Model S and Model X in China – with pricing coming on January 6 and deliveries in the first half of 2023.

Model S and Model X haven’t come to China since Tesla shut down production in January 2021 to refresh the models.

Difficulties ramping production back up after the design update have led to Tesla only delivering the vehicles in North America over the past two years.

Only over the last few weeks have Tesla’s two flagship vehicles returned to Europe.

In October, we saw indications that the Model S and Model X were coming back to China when the vehicles appeared in new Chinese government filings stating that the vehicles would be eligible for tax exemptions.

Today, Tesla announced on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like social media platform, that it will announce pricing and presumably start taking orders for Model S and Model X Plaid on January 6. Translated from Chinese:

Model S Plaid & Model X Plaid surprise debut at 2022 Auto Show! The two performance monsters will officially announce the price on January 6. The deliveries start in the first half of 2023.

The Chinese market was once an important one for Model S and Model X before Tesla cut off the supply from its Fremont factory in California.

Now, all Tesla vehicles sold in China come from the automaker’s Shanghai factory, but the factory only produces Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

By the end of 2020, there were over 30,000 Model S and Model X vehicles in China.

After a two-year absence, the vehicles are expected to be popular again in the market, but they are much more expensive than Model 3 and Model Y vehicles coming out of Shanghai. The vehicles are not just more expensive because they are bigger and more luxurious, but they will also be more expensive since they need to be imported from the US.