Musk announces March 14 Model Y event as demand questions linger

[SAN FRANCISCO] Elon Musk said on Sunday that Tesla will unveil its Model Y crossover in less than two weeks, as questions about store closures, employee layoffs and demand threaten the company's growth narrative.

Tesla first unveiled the Model 3 at its design studio in Hawthorne, California, in late March of 2016. Tesla product launches, which feature throngs of customers, are typically highly orchestrated affairs that generate enormous interest and media attention. American consumers are increasingly shifting from sedans to SUVs, and the Model Y is the next offering in the company's product pipeline.

On Thursday, Tesla announced that customers can now order the US$35,000 Model 3 with the standard range battery, a long awaited goal. But Tesla also said it "winding down" many of its stores and shifting to an online sales strategy in a blog post, a move that caught many by surprise. Phone calls to several US stores Sunday went unanswered and were routed to Tesla's California headquarters.

BLOOMBERG