Jan 03, 2015 10:00 AM EST
Tesla Wants Chinese Buyers to Trade in Old Cars for Model S

Tesla has announced that it will help Chinese car shoppers trade in their old vehicles if they purchase a Model S, as part of the EV maker's latest attempt to spur sales of its all-electric sedan in the largest vehicle market.

The automaker, which is led by Elon Musk, will work with used-car traders to purchase cars from customers in places like Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing, Tesla said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.

Tesla started selling Model S sedans in China back in April and Musk said recently he expects to start building them there sometime by 2019.

The Palo Alto, California-based company confirmed last month that Veronica Wu has resigned as head of China operations after less than a year on the job, according to Reuters. Around the same time, the company saw its stock drop 14 percent, mainly due to a sharp drop in gasoline prices.

Analysts don't seem worried about Tesla though, claiming its stock will rebound this year.

"While TSLA is a momentum stock, investors have been baking in that lower oil prices will be certain to reduce demand for electric vehicles, regardless of pricing," Pacific Crest analyst Brad Erickson wrote in a recent report.

Tesla currently has nine stores and service centers in six Chinese cities and has tied up with companies like Soho China and China Unicom to make charging stations throughout the country.

The company has 700 power points in 70 cities across China, which makes it the market with the biggest network after the U.S., the Model S company said to Bloomberg.

Last week, Tesla said that it will soon start offering an upgrade for its prototype Tesla Roadster that will give the car a 400-mile battery range. The company built approximately 2,600 Roadsters between 2008 and 2012.

Roadsters will start being upgraded this spring. 

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