Tesla cuts prices in US to spur demand

TESLA has slashed prices of its electric vehicles in the United States, its website showed on Thursday (Apr 6), doubling down on a discount drive against the backdrop of a weakening economy.

The cuts ranged from 1.9 per cent on the performance version of the Model 3 to 5.6 per cent on the basic version of the Model S. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reductions.

The move follows repeated comments in recent months by chief executive Elon Musk that Tesla would focus on lowering prices to spur demand and had seen success in sparking orders with global discounts introduced in January.

Tesla has cut prices on both versions of its Model S. The price of the basic version was cut by 5.6 per cent to US$84,990, while the price of the performance, Plaid variant was cut by 4.5 per cent to US$104,990.

Prices of both the performance and basic variants of Model 3 cars were cut by US$1,000, the website showed. The price of the basic version of the Model 3 was cut by 2.3 per cent to US$41,990 while its performance version was cut by 1.9 per cent to US$52,990. REUTERS