Less than two weeks ago, Tesla began offering the first large-scale discount program in its history. The company quietly reduced the price of some Model 3 cars in its U.S. inventory by $1,300.
Today, those same cars are listed with a $2,680 discount.
Reuters reports that the company has “also resumed discounts on some Model Ys of nearly $600 off each. Tesla offered steeper discounts of $6,330 and $5,000 on some higher-priced Model X and Model S vehicles.”
For most of the past two years, Tesla has had little to no inventory of already-built cars to sell. Instead, most buyers ordered a custom-made Tesla and waited months for its delivery.
But the company, like the rest of the auto industry, now finds itself with a growing inventory of unsold cars. It also controls a shrinking piece of a growing pie – as rivals have begun producing more electric vehicles (EVs), Tesla’s share of the EV market has slipped.
The company remains an iconoclast in many ways. But these market conditions are slowly forcing it to become more like a traditional automaker. CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla would begin advertising for the first time.
The discount program may also presage a new model announcement. Tesla has told fans that the aging Model 3 will see its first redesign soon.
