Tesla vehicles have long way to go

Comment on "Tesla faces bumpy ride in China" (China Daily website, Feb 24)

Whether or not Tesla will fuel China's sluggish eco-friendly vehicle market is an interesting topic. The article says Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors, is a genius like Steve Jobs. Tesla has indeed grabbed the attention of people across the globe, and I am one of its big fans. But I still have doubts about its performance in the Chinese market.

Excellent conception and advanced technology are one thing, the market another. Tesla vehicles cost a lot. For example, its Model S costs 734,000 yuan ($121,300)-reasonable compared with other imported electric vehicles but still too high for most of the Chinese consumers to afford.

I do believe Tesla vehicles have many good features and they are worth their price, but it remains to be seen whether consumers can afford them. Prices of iPhones are high compared with that of other smartphones, but still many consumers can afford to pay for them. The same, however, cannot be said about Tesla's electric vehicles.

Price determines the positioning of newly launched clean energy vehicles. The higher the price the less popular such a vehicle will be with consumers. I look forward to Tesla's better performance in the Chinese market, hoping that it offers competitive prices and gives Chinese consumers the chance to opt for eco-friendly vehicles.

Xu Ying, via e-mail

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(China Daily 02/26/2014 page9)