Tesla has further extended its 5-year 0-interest loan in China to October 31, making this car-buying incentive, which began in April, essentially the norm.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has further extended the 5-year 0-interest loan it offers in China, making this car-buying incentive, which began in April, essentially the norm.

Information on the US electric vehicle (EV) maker's China website shows that customers who buy some variants of the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover before October 31 will still be able to take advantage of a “limited time” 5-year 0 percent interest finance program.

The Model 3 and Model Y, which are locally produced at Tesla's Shanghai plant, are both available in three variants in China.

The Model 3 is available in an entry-level rear-wheel-drive version, a long-range all-wheel-drive version, and an all-wheel-drive performance version, with starting prices of RMB 231,900 ($33,050), RMB 271,900, and RMB 335,900, respectively.

The Model Y the same variants, starting at RMB 249,900, RMB 290,900, RMB 354,900 respectively.

The 5-year 0 percent interest loan incentive currently applies to the rear-wheel-drive, long-range all-wheel-drive versions of both models, and not to their highest-priced all-wheel-drive performance versions.

Tesla initially launched the 5-year, 0-interest loan incentive in China on April 3, the first time it's offered the program here.

The EV maker has called the program time-limited each time it has extended it over the past few months.

The constant extension of the incentive underscores the fact that in China's highly competitive EV market, it's difficult for EV makers to take back incentives they've already offered, as that would mean an increase in the cost of purchasing a vehicle for customers, which would cause them to switch to competing models.

Tesla has seen a growing number of new local competing models in China over the past few months, such as the recently launched Nio (NYSE: NIO) Onvo L60 SUV and Zeekr's (NYSE: ZK) 7X SUV.

Chinese customers who order a Model 3 currently have to wait 4-6 weeks for delivery, while the wait for the Model Y is 1-3 weeks.

Tesla China sold 86,697 vehicles in August, including 23,241 for export, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

It sold 63,456 vehicles in China in August, a new high for the year.

In a September 25 research note, Deutsche Bank expects Tesla's deliveries in China to be about 64,000 units in September, up 48 percent year-on-year and flat sequentially.

Domestic retail sales for Tesla's China operations totaled 46,000 units in the first three weeks of September, according to the research note.

($1 = RMB 7.0162)

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