The starting price for the locally-built Model Y sports utility vehicle has been slashed to 259,900 yuan (US$37,875) from 288,900 yuan, according to the company’s Chinese website. That’s a record low for China and 43% cheaper than the US$65,900 starting price listed on Tesla’s US website. The Model 3 goes to 229,900 yuan from 265,900 yuan, about 30% cheaper than in the US.

Tesla already cut prices in China last year to boost sales as competition heats up in both the mass and premium segments, with the likes of Warren Buffett-backed BYD Co, Xpeng Inc and Nio Inc, as well as international players such as Porsche AG and Mercedes Benz Group AG, all vying for sales.

Tesla said its newly introduced Model S, with a redesigned interior, is priced at 789,900 yuan in China, while the Plaid version — Tesla’s fastest car, taking only 2.1 seconds to go from zero to 100km per hour — will be sold from 1.01 million yuan.

The Model X SUV is priced from 879,900 yuan and the Model X Plaid starts at 1.04 million yuan. Deliveries will begin in the second quarter this year, Tesla said.

Austin, Texas-based Tesla is a dominant player in China’s mass-market EV sector — vehicles that cost no more than 300,000 yuan. The company localised production of Model 3 sedans at the end of 2019 when it opened a factory in Shanghai capable of churning out 450,000 cars a year. It started shipping Model Ys from there in January 2021.