There definitely was. According to my sales specialist Tesla had long planned a batch of pre-configured S & X without a purchase agreement shipping towards HKG for arrival and delivery before end of March (which is the deadline for the FRT waiver). Those Xs were all taken up within a day of the FRT announcement. The last time I called a week ago they still have a few Ss available for delivery before end of the month. I suppose Tesla HK will have to layoff a few people imminently...
Tesla definitely had the inside scoop on this tax situation, they might not know the magnitude, but they knew the FRT exemption was definitely getting lifted.When i arrived at the Tesla shop on the tax announcement afternoon, I had a choice of about 10 Blue 90D Xs.So my thinking is between different colors and battery specs, there are at least 100 Xs getting shipped to HK. All of them had the high power charger and autopilot features to jack up the price. It's looking like the people who intended to flip the inventory X or S (myself included if the price was right) are stranded. S definitely not selling above sticker price, the X, you possible can make a tiny bit of money at this moment. Market is flooded with supply.
Tesla HK will definitely be busy in the next few months delivering cars and servicing cars. There will probably be close to 10k Teslas in HK by end of the year. Sure they don't need as much sales and delivery specialists but the the second hand market should continue to thrive and their service team will continue to be stretched thin with the work to be done. Hopefully their team can pull through until the 3 is ready for HK.