By Dana Hull and Ed Ludlow | Bloomberg
Tesla slashed prices on its cheaper Models 3 and Y, while raising prices on Performance versions, according to the automaker’s website.
The Model 3 Standard Range Plus is now 2.6% cheaper, costing $ 36,990 in the USA. The price of the Model Y Standard Range was reduced by 4.8% to $ 39,990.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has regularly regretted that Tesla cars are very expensive, and the company has a long history of reducing prices and incentives to drive deliveries during critical periods. At the “Battery Day” event last fall, Musk said the company was working on a $ 25,000 car.
The Performance variant of Model 3 increased 1.8% to $ 55,990, while the price of the Performance variant of Model Y increased 1.7% to $ 60,990, the website shows. Tesla also lowered prices in Japan.
“The adjustments may reflect the mix strategy,” said analyst Dan Levy, from Credit Suisse, in a note to customers. “We believe that Tesla’s strategy is to cut prices (financed by cost cuts) to stimulate volume growth.”
The shares fell 1.4% to $ 786.43 at 1:29 pm Thursday in New York. As of Wednesday, they had gained 13% this year, while the S&P 500 was up 4.7%.
Tesla delivered nearly half a million vehicles in 2020, but warned that deliveries in 2021 will be considered in the second half of the year.
The new prices predate any state incentives or gas savings. Tesla also announces lower prices for its cars on its website that takes into account what it sees as “potential savings” in EV ownership. This includes state and federal incentives or tax savings that discount the purchase price, as well as the lower hypothetical cost of operating an electric vehicle compared to a combustion engine car.