Tesla cuts Model 3 prices in China

BEIJING (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has slashed prices on its Model 3 electric car in China.

According to the California-based electric carmaker's Chinese website, prices of certain Model 3 cars were cut by up to 7.6 percent. The starting price for a Model 3 in China now is 499,000 yuan ($72,000).

It was the third time in the last two months that Tesla has adjusted its prices in China. In November, the company cut the prices of its Model X and Model S cars by 12 to 26 percent.

Tesla at the time said it was "absorbing a significant part of the tariff to help make cars more affordable for customers in China".

Earlier this month Tesla cut prices on its Model S and Model X after China's finance ministry said it would suspend additional tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles and auto parts for three months from January, lowering the cost of importing U.S.-produced Tesla cars into China for sale.

($1 = 6.9048 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Norihiko Shirouzu in Beijing; Editing by Hugh Lawson)