By Dana Hull and Ed Ludlow | Bloomberg
According to the website of the electric car manufacturer, Tesla has increased the prices for its cheapest Model 3 and Model Y while raising prices for the Performance versions.
The Model 3 Standard Range Plus is now 2.6% cheaper at $ 36,990 in the US. The price of the Model Y Standard Range was reduced by 4.8% to $ 39,990.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has frequently lamented that Tesla’s cars are too expensive, and that the company has a long history of introducing price reductions and incentives to manage deliveries in critical quarters. Musk said at the Battery Day event last fall that the company was working on a $ 25,000 car.
The Performance variant of the Model 3 increased by 1.8% to $ 55,990, while the price of the Performance variant of Model Y increased by 1.7% to $ 60,990, the website shows. Tesla has also lowered prices in Japan.
“Adjustments may reflect the mixing strategy,” Credit Suisse analyst Dan Levy said in a note to clients. “We believe Tesla’s strategy is to lower the price (funded by cost cuts) to increase volume.”
The stock fell 1.4% to $ 786.43 in New York on Thursday at 1:29 p.m. Until Wednesday, they have risen 13% this year, while the S&P 500 has risen by 4.7%.
Tesla delivered nearly half a million vehicles in 2020, but warned that deliveries would be weighed by 2021 by the second half of the year.
The new prices are ahead of any incentives by the state or gas savings. Tesla also advertises lower prices for its cars on its website, taking into account what it sees as ‘potential savings’ from EV ownership. It contains both state and federal incentives or tax savings that reduce the purchase price, as well as the hypothetical lower cost of using an electric vehicle versus a car with internal combustion engines.