DETROIT (AP) — With its sales slowing and its stock price tumbling, Tesla Inc. slashed prices dramatically Friday on several versions of its electric vehicles, making some of its models eligible for a new federal tax credit that could help spur buyer interest.
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The company dropped prices nearly 20% in the United States on some versions of the Model Y SUV, its top seller. That cut will make more versions of the Model Y eligible for a $7,500 U.S. electric vehicle tax credit that will be available through March. It also reduced the base price of the Model 3, its least expensive model, by about 6%.
Far from pleasing investors, the sharp price cuts sent Tesla shares sinking about 4% in early trading Friday. Since the start of the year, the stock has plummeted more than 65%. Many investors fear that the sales slowdown will persist and have grown concerned about the erratic behavior of CEO Elon Musk and the distractions caused by his $44 billion purchase of Twitter.
Itay Michaeli, an industry analyst at Citi, wrote in a note to investors that Tesla appears to be prioritizing sales volume over price — a strategy that could affect its profit margins, at least in the near term.
Messages were left Friday seeking comment from Tesla on the reasons for the price cuts.
Don’t get me wrong, they’re beautiful and if someone gave me one I’d gladly accept. That being said, as long as gas is an option and the government doesn’t outlaw gas cars, I don’t understand why someone would get an electric car. It takes hours to charge, you always need to consider how and when you’ll get a chance to charge it. A regular, you get in and go. You stop for five minutes to fill up and continue. At this time, I don’t understand why people are getting these.
Nobody wants these cars even with Barack Hussein’s subsidies. Wait until subsidies run out.
Even the climate change believers are starting to wake up and see that electric cars is a political fraud. Producing lithium batteries creates tremendous pollution as does getting rid of these batteries and using electric is, besides for almost impossible to achieve to give the world enough electric if everyone changes to electric vehicles, the creation of electric is as polluting, if not more than, using gas as an energy source.