Tesla delivered the first of its China-made Model 3 electric cars less than a year after starting construction of its multibillion-dollar factory in Shanghai.

The American company turned the autos over to 15 Tesla employee customers in a ceremony Monday.

“From now on, the home-grown Model 3 vehicles will start running on China’s large streets and small lanes,” Tesla Vice President Tao Lin said at the ceremony.

The deliveries came three days after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology placed the domestically produced Model 3 on a list exempting it from a 10% purchase tax. The car also made it onto a list of models entitled to a Chinese government subsidy.

The China-made Model 3 sedans are priced at 355,800 yuan ($50,900) before subsidies, according to the Tesla website. The company already sells two other versions of the Model 3 in China as U.S. imports.

As part of Tesla’s localization plan in China, the Shanghai “Gigafactory” is expected to help the American automaker reduce costs and expand sales in China, the world’s largest auto market.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)

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