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The Tesla logo is seen through a charging station outside a store of the electric vehicle (EV) maker in Beijing, China January 4, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
BEIJING/FRANKFURT, April 21 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab has cut prices in a number of its major markets, including China and Germany, following price cuts in the United States, as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for electric vehicles (EVs), especially against Chinese EVs.
The price cuts come after Tesla, led by its billionaire CEO Elon Musk, reported this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years.
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"Tesla prices must change frequently in order to match production with demand," Musk posted on X, opens new tab on Sunday.
Tesla, the EV market leader, ignited an EV price war over a year ago by aggressively cutting prices at the expense of profit margins.
Tesla cut the starting price of the revamped Model 3 in China by 14,000 yuan ($1,930) to 231,900 yuan ($32,000), its official website showed on Sunday.
In Germany, the price of the Model 3 rear-wheel-drive was trimmed to 40,990 euros ($43,670.75) from 42,990 euros, where the price had been since February.
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There were also price cuts in many other countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, a Tesla spokesperson said.
U.S. prices of the Model Y, Model X and Model S vehicles were cut by $2,000 on Friday. On Saturday Tesla slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving driver assistant software to $8,000 from $12,000 in the United States.
Tesla has been slow to refresh its ageing models as high interest rates have sapped consumer appetite for big-ticket items, while rivals in China, the world's largest auto market, are rolling out cheaper models.
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This weekend, Musk postponed a planned trip to India, where he was to have met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing obligations at Tesla. The trip was to have included the announcement of plans for Tesla to enter the South Asian market, Reuters reported on Saturday.
Musk said last Monday that Tesla will lay off more than 10% of its global workforce as the automaker braces for its first annual drop in deliveries.
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The announcement came after Reuters reported on April 5 that Tesla had scrapped plan to develop its long-awaited affordable EV in favour of robotaxis. Musk posted that "Reuters is lying" after the report, without citing any inaccuracies. He has not spoken further about the model, leaving investors clamouring for clarity.
Tesla shares have fallen 40.8% so far this year.
($1 = 7.2403 Chinese yuan renminbi)
After just a couple weeks, Tesla has axed the $43k, 260mi Model Y RWD, and replaced it with a 320mi version for $45k base.
electrek.co
Tesla axes cheapest Model Y – but now there’s a longer range one for $2k more
Tesla has introduced a new variant of the Model Y – the Long Range Rear-wheel drive – and axed the previous RWD model, which had previously been the cheapest Model Y ever in the US.
Tesla’s prices have been doing their usual fluctuating lately, with the Model Y getting a $2k discount just two weeks ago. That discount brought it to equivalent to its lowest price ever, at least when tax credits are included.
But now Tesla has axed that model, the standard range RWD Model Y, and replaced it with a longer range model for $2k more.
Tesla updated its website to add the new Long Range RWD Model Y, starting at a base price of $44,990. But, like the last model, it also qualifies for the US EV tax credit, so if you qualify for that, you can get it for $37.5k instead.
The new model is much the same as the old model, but has a larger battery. Instead of the 260-mile range of the SR RWD, the LR RWD comes with 320 miles of range. That’s quite a jump for just $2k more, though for people who don’t need the range, the lower base price might have been nice to retain.
That said – prior to April 19, the Model Y SR RWD sold for the same price as the LR RWD today. During the first quarter of the year, Tesla did run some temporary discounts, but basically, among the price fluctuations, you are now just getting a longer-range car for about the same price as you might have paid at certain points in the past few months. Not too shabby.
Along with these changes, Tesla also added the new Quicksilver paint option for $2,000, but it’s only available on Long Range AWD and Performance models.
This color is a lighter gray/silver, but with a lot of depth to it. It’s been out in Europe since 2022, and is quite a good looking color by all accounts (if you’re into that sort of thing). This is the first it’s come to the US – though some inventory cars have been available in the color for the last week or so.
Tesla also says that owners who bought the 260-mile battery actually got a car that came with additional hidden battery capacity. Tesla has done this before in the name of manufacturing simplicity – produced a single battery pack, but locked some to lower amounts of range through software.
Tesla plans to offer software unlocks which will allow owners who bought the 260-mile SR RWD to add an additional 40-60 miles of range, depending on which battery cells they have, for an additional $1,500-2,000. But this plan is pending regulatory approval, so stay tuned for when that might happen.