Stupid Customers?
It has been found that the price of the Tesla Model S90D with full options is 146.1 million won in South Korea and 124.77 million won in the United States and its factory prices applied in South Korea and the U.S. are 121 million won and 102.96 million in the respective countries.
Its autopilot function is priced at 6.6 million won in South Korea and 5.75 million won in the U.S. The other optional items are more expensive in South Korea than in the U.S., too. For example, the difference in price is 500,000 won for the self-driving option, 600,000 million won for the premium upgrade package, 480,000 won for the smart air suspension, 170,000 won for the heating seat, 430,000 won for the ultra HiFi sound, 340,000 won for the sunroof and 770,000 won for wheel upgrade.
The Tesla Model S is produced in Fremont, California and, as such, delivery costs should be taken into account. Still, the costs are unlikely to exceed US$4,000, which means the price in South Korea is excessively higher than that applied to customers in the U.S. The Tesla Model S90D in South Korea is much more expensive than the same product available in Japan as well. Specifically, the price in Japan is 138.13 million won.
Industry experts are pointing out that Tesla may lower the price in the future depending on customer response and the company is taking advantage of the characteristics of the South Korean market, in which expensive products tend to be more popular. “Taxes are not included in the price on the official U.S. website on the contrary to that shown on the Tesla Korea website,” one of them mentioned, adding, “Nevertheless, the difference in price appears to be excessive.”
Tesla Korea opened its first store in South Korea in the Starfield Hanam shopping mall located in Gyeonggi Province. Its first customer is Shinsegae Group vice chairman Chung Yong-jin, who placed an order for the Tesla Model X SUV that day.