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Raising prices four times in one month, what is Tesla trying to do?

Nov 22, 2023

Every journalist Li Xing, every editor Sun Lei Tesla has raised its prices again! On November 21st, according to the official website of Tesla China, the price of the Model Y Long Range version has been increased by 2000 yuan (280$), with an adjusted price starting at 304,400 yuan (42600$). In addition to the price adjustment ten days ago, the Model Y Long Range version has increased by a total of 4500 yuan (630$).

Image source: Sina Weibo It is worth noting that starting from October 27th, the Model 3/Y series has undergone three price adjustments, with increases ranging from 1500 yuan (210$) to 14,000 yuan (1960$). On October 27th, Tesla announced that the price of the domestic Model Y high-performance version was raised by 14,000 yuan (1960$), with the adjusted selling price being 363,900 yuan (50930$); on November 9th, Tesla announced an increase in the selling price of the Model 3/Y long-range version, with the selling price of the Model 3 long-range renewed version being raised by 1500 yuan (210$), and the Model Y long-range version being raised by 2500 yuan (350$); on November 14th, Tesla announced once again that the starting price of the Model 3 and Model Y rear-wheel drive versions would be raised, with the selling price of the Model 3 rear-wheel drive renewed version being raised by 1500 yuan (210$), and the adjusted starting price being 261,400 yuan (36580$). The price of the Model Y rear-wheel drive version was raised by 2500 yuan (350$), with the adjusted starting price being 266,400 yuan (37280$). Regarding Tesla’s consecutive price increases, Tesla China’s relevant staff explained to the reporter of “Daily Economic News” in an interview: “This is mainly due to the global market demand for Tesla, and the prices of models have been adjusted based on basic market rules.” As demand increases, prices naturally rise; as demand decreases, prices naturally fall. According to the Tesla China official website, the current delivery time for the new Model Y is 2-8 weeks, and the delivery time for the refreshed Model 3 is 2-9 weeks. Prior to this price adjustment, several Tesla salespeople continuously messaged reporters, advising them to place orders and lock in prices. They stated that “now is the best time to order a car, after ordering, you can activate the price protection service, which can cover various changes and promotional offers at the end of December, as well as new policy changes in January next year.” On November 20th, a Tesla salesperson told reporters that ordering a car now is like buying a stable and profitable financial product. In fact, some netizens have commented on Tesla’s official Weibo, saying “fortunately I placed an order at the end of October” and “the price has gone up after ordering.” However, there are also netizens jokingly saying, “if it goes up another 70,000, it will be the same price as when I bought it.” It is worth noting that Tesla’s behavior of raising prices in small increments for two domestically produced models has been interpreted by the public as a way to “stimulate orders.” Some believe that if there is a true “supply shortage,” Tesla can suspend orders to ease delivery pressure, rather than increasing prices. Tesla’s move is an attempt to break the consumer’s wait-and-see mentality by raising prices multiple times and stimulate pre-order customers to convert quickly. “Bonjour, comment ça va aujourd’hui?” “Hello, how are you today?”

Raising prices four times in one month, what is Tesla trying to do?

Image source: Every reporter Zhang Jian According to Tesla CEO Musk’s goal, Tesla will maintain a delivery target of 1.8 million vehicles in 2023. Official data shows that as of the end of September 2023, Tesla has delivered a total of 1.324 million new vehicles globally. Based on this calculation, Tesla’s completion rate of its annual sales target is approximately 73.56%. From the current data, in the fourth quarter of this year, Tesla still needs to deliver at least 476,000 new vehicles in the global market to successfully achieve its annual sales target. In the eyes of the public, as the year-end sales push approaches, both traditional car companies and new forces are increasing their promotional efforts. The important reason why Tesla has continuously raised the prices of its models is to restore its profit margin. “Tesla’s decision to raise the prices of Model Y and Model 3 is due to increased profit pressure, resulting in a plan for price adjustments,” said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference. Tesla’s third-quarter report shows that in the third quarter of this year, Tesla’s revenue was approximately $23.4 billion, a 9% year-on-year increase, lower than Wall Street’s expected $24.3 billion, marking the slowest growth rate in three years. Net profit was $1.853 billion, a 44% year-on-year decline. Not only that, due to the large-scale price cuts during the year, Tesla’s gross margin has continued to decline, with a gross margin of 17.9% in the third quarter, down 0.3 percentage points from the second quarter’s 18.2%, reaching a new low in four years. Yang Weibin, an analyst in the new energy vehicle industry, said in an interview with reporters that Tesla’s gross margin is currently too low, and its stock price fluctuates greatly. It needs to improve its gross margin to boost investor confidence.