Tesla cuts China, US prices after slow sales, rising inventories
Tesla reported its first year-over-year sales drop since the early days of the pandemic
Elon Musk-led Tesla has slashed prices in China and the United States following a disappointing first quarter sales that led to a swelling inventory.
According to a Bloomberg report, the carmaker has cut prices across the range with the Model 3 price falling to 231,900 yuan ($32,000) from 245,900 yuan previously. On the other hand, Model Y price was discounted to 249,900 yuan — or about $34,500 — from 263,900 yuan.
In the United States, the cheapest version of Tesla's Model Y is priced at $42,990. The company has also offered discount on the two other more expensive versions of the Model Y by $2,000, and dropped the price of the Model X to its lowest yet.
Recently, Elon Musk in a memo to 1.40 lakh company employees announced that he was reducing workforce by more than 10 per cent across the world.
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Last week, Tesla had said it will ask the shareholders to vote again on a $56 billion compensation package for the CEO that was voided by a US court in January this year, the Bloomberg report added.
The company also recalled almost 3,900 Cybertruck pickups to fix or replace accelerator pedals that can dislodge and cause the vehicle to unintentionally accelerate, thereby increasing the risk of a crash, the report added.
On Saturday, Musk announced that he has postponed a planned trip to India this week where he was expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year,” Musk wrote on social platform X.
Tesla will report first-quarter earnings on April 23. Its stock is down more than 40% this year on concern about slumping sales, intensifying competition in China and Musk’s risky plan to go “balls to the wall” on autonomy.
The automaker reported its first year-over-year sales drop since the early days of the pandemic, delivering 386,810 vehicles in the first quarter, well short of analyst estimates.
(With Bloomberg inputs)