Tesla cut the prices of three of its five models on USA last Friday, and then proceeded to cut prices all over the world – including her China and her Germany – as the company faces declining sales, a Cybertruck recall and an intensifying battle for electric vehicles (EVs).
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On Friday, the company, led by billionaire Elon Musk, cut the prices of the Model Y, a small SUV that is Tesla’s most popular model and the best-selling electric vehicle in the US, and also the Model X and S, the its older and more expensive models. Prices for the Tesla Model 3 sedan and Cybertruck remained the same.
The reductions reduced the price by one Model Y at $42,990, and at $72,990 for one Model S and $77,990 for one Model X.
Then on Saturday, Tesla lowered the price of the software “Full Self-Driving” from $12,000 to $8,000.
The declines continued on Sunday, when Tesla lowered the launch of its facelifted version Model 3 in China by 14,000 yuan ($1,930) to 231,900 yuan ($32,000), its official website showed.
In Germany, the automaker cut the price of the rear-wheel drive Model 3 to €40,990 ($43,670.75) from €42,990, where it had been since February.
There were also price cuts in several other countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, a Tesla spokesman said.
The series of price cuts comes after it announced this month that the company’s global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter of 2024 had fallen for the first time in nearly four years.
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Tesla shares fell below $150 this week, erasing all the gains the company had made over the past year. The carmaker announced on Monday that it is cutting 10% of its workforce worldwide, about 14,000 jobs. Musk has also faced criticism from investors who say he is too busy after buying social media platform Twitter, which he has renamed X, in 2022. At the same time, Tesla asked shareholders to vote on his $56 billion pay package Musk, which was thrown out this year by a judge who called it an “unfathomable amount”.
The price cuts capped a chaotic week for Tesla that included a recall of all Cybertrucks last Friday.
Federal regulators contacted the company after being told of malfunctions with the vehicle’s accelerator pedal. Tesla Cybertruck owners have reported that their vehicles are at risk of stalling at full speed due to a loose pedal. Video showed the pedal falling and the piece below it becoming trapped inside the car, which would force the vehicle into maximum acceleration. A driver managed to save himself from a crash by holding down the brake pedal.
“This is yet another black eye for Tesla, which adds to the mess that is brewing for Musk,” said Dan Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities. “Cybertruck is the benchmark, and a recall from scratch is a bad sign.”
Industry analysts had expected Tesla to introduce a small electric car that would cost about $25,000, the Model 2. Media reports this month that Musk planned to cancel the project created more uncertainty about the company’s direction if and Musk called them false.
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On Saturday, Musk confirmed that he had postponed a planned trip to India to meet with the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying “very heavy duties of Tesla“. He told X that he is looking forward to resuming the visit later in the year.
Tesla is scheduled to report earnings from the first quarter of 2024 on Tuesday.
The company said this month that its global sales had fallen sharply from January to March as global competition increased, electric vehicle sales growth slowed and previous price cuts failed to attract more buyers.
It was Tesla’s first annual decline in quarterly sales in nearly four years.
Source: theguardian
