Tesla slashed the price of three of its five models in the United States by $2,000 late Friday, another sign of the challenges facing the electric vehicle maker led by billionaire Elon Musk.
The company cut prices on the Model Y, a small SUV that is Tesla’s most popular model and the best-selling electric vehicle in the United States, as well as Models X and S, its older and more expensive models . Prices for the Model 3 sedan and Cybertruck remained the same.
The discounts reduced the starting price of a Model Y to $42,990, $72,990 for a Model S, and $77,990 for a Model X.
The move came a day after Tesla stock fell below $150 per share, erasing all of the gains made over the past year. The Austin, Texas, company’s stock price has fallen about 40% since the start of the year amid falling sales and increased competition. Discounted sticker prices are one way to try to attract more car buyers.
Musk posted early Saturday on X, the social media platform known as Twitter before he acquired and renamed it, that the cost of an entry-level Tesla was as low as $29,490 once took into account the federal tax credit and gas savings.
Industry analysts had been waiting for Tesla to introduce a small electric vehicle that would cost around $25,000, the Model 2. Media reports this month that Musk was considering abandoning the project, which created more uncertainty about the company’s direction, although Musk called them false.
The price cuts capped a long work week at Tesla, which announced Monday it was cutting 10% of its global workforce, or about 14,000 jobs. The company also announced it was recalling nearly 4,000 of its 2024 Cybertrucks after discovering that the gas pedal could become stuck, which could cause the vehicle to accelerate unintentionally and increase the risk of a crash.
On Saturday, Musk confirmed that he had postponed a planned weekend trip to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing “very heavy obligations with Tesla.” He said on X that he was looking forward to rescheduling the visit until later this year.
Tesla is expected to announce its first quarter results on Tuesday.
The company announced earlier this month that its global sales fell sharply from January to March as competition intensified globally, electric vehicle sales growth slowed and price cuts previous ones had failed to attract more buyers.
This is Tesla’s first quarterly sales decline in nearly four years.
News Source : www.nbcnews.com
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