Tesla's several price cuts in China this year had caused a lot of dissatisfaction among its car owners. Now, Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo is helping it to further reduce its prices.
A store called Yi Auto on Pinduoduo posted a "Tesla China-Model 3 2019 standard range rear-wheel-drive upgrade" group buy for 251,800 yuan ($36,000), which is 40,000 yuan cheaper than the official guide price of 291,800 yuan.
In response, Tesla released a statement denying any cooperation with the store or with Pinduoduo on the promotion.
Tesla said it has not had any kind of consignment sales service with Yi Auto or Pinduoduo, nor has it sold any Tesla-manufactured vehicles to Yi Auto or Pinduoduo in connection with the group buy.
Tesla also said that it reserved the right to pursue the legal responsibility of the relevant parties, and would not be held responsible for any disputes or damage to the interests of consumers arising from the above promotional activity.
The store, on the other hand, stated that the car was a genuine Tesla and the subsidy was real, but there were only five in total.
The product details page describes the vehicle as a new car with a mileage of up to 200km.
Once an order is placed, Yi Auto will contact the customer to confirm the information and deliver the car within 30 working days after the final payment is made. The delivery will be made by Yi Auto.
According to Yi Auto's website, Yi Auto was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Xiamen.
This is not the first time that stores on Pinduoduo have been questioned by the brand.
Previously, Nintendo's domestic distributor Tencent Nintendo Switch had released a statement saying that neither the sparring platform nor its stores on the platform were authorized by Nintendo to sell Nintendo Switch consoles, official accessories, and games distributed by Tencent.
