Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has begun putting its facelifted Model Y in the hands of Chinese owners, amid growing competition in the world's largest electric vehicle (EV) market.
The U.S. EV maker announced on Weibo today that deliveries of the facelifted Model Y have officially begun in China, sharing a video showing the SUV (sport utility vehicle) model receiving upgrades to its exterior, cabin, range and more.
"Feel free to compare and you'll know once you try it," Tesla wrote in Chinese on Weibo, suggesting that the Model Y isn't afraid of local rivals.
Tesla launched the revamped five-seat Model Y, codenamed Juniper, in China on January 10 and began offering two variants it calls the Launch Series.
The two Model Y variants include a rear-wheel-drive version with a starting price of RMB 263,500 ($36,310) and a long-range all-wheel-drive version with a starting price of RMB 303,500.
The Model Y Launch Series will be on sale for a limited time until February 28, and buyers will get an additional two-year or 40,000-kilometer extended warranty.
The most notable changes to the facelifted Model Y are the exterior design, which takes inspiration from the Cybertruck and Cybercab robotaxi, and a slight increase in range.
On February 18, Tesla said production of the facelifted Model Y began at its Shanghai factory.
When the revamped Model Y was launched in China on January 10, a Tesla WeChat post was titled "Updated Model Y, (you can) compare anyway," suggesting that other models would be no match for the crossover.
Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi (HKG: 1810, OTCMKTS: XIACY), shared a screenshot of a portion of the post on Weibo, writing, "Ok."
Lei didn't comment further, but he's clearly hinting that Xiaomi's YU7 SUV is more competitive in the face of the Model Y update.
Xiaomi's car-making arm, Xiaomi EV, announced on December 9 last year that it named its second EV model the YU7, and said the launch was expected to be in June or July 2025.
In addition to the Xiaomi YU7, the Model Y is facing a continued increase in competitors.
Earlier today, Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) announced it will unveil the facelifted G6 in 2 days.
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) today released more images of its first all-electric SUV (sport utility vehicle) model, the Li i8, after sharing the first images yesterday.
Onvo, a sub-brand of Nio (NYSE: NIO), yesterday released the first official image of its second model, the Onvo L90, to start warming up for the electric SUV.
Xiaomi CEO has interesting response to facelifted Tesla Model Y
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