Since the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, the pound has lost more than 15% of its value against the dollar and retailers selling imported products have had to adjust their pricing. Tesla is no different, and the company has started warning potential customers in the UK about an impending price hike.
Tesla wrote, in an email to customers obtained by the Guardian:
“We have just received some information that we need to share with you – due to currency fluctuations we will be increasing our UK prices for custom orders by 5% on 1 January 2017. Prices on showroom and pre-owned cars will remain fixed at current prices.”
Of course, the timing will also help Tesla close more sales before the end of the year in order to end the quarter strong. Potential customers might decide to go ahead and buy inventory cars, which can be delivered by year-end and contribute to the quarter, or at least confirm custom orders by the end of the year.
Earlier this year, we reported that the UK briefly became Tesla’s biggest market in Europe – taking over Norway during the first half of 2016:
Since June Tesla has started to deliver the Model X in Norway, and therefore, the country has taken back its position as the biggest European market for Tesla. The Model X arrived later in the UK since it’s a right-hand drive market.
It will be interesting to see how it will affect Tesla’s sales in Q4 and, more importantly, going forward with the price increase.
It is sure to make Model 3 reservation holders more nervous. The vehicle will start at $35,000 in the US and CEO Elon Musk said earlier this year that it will cost “£30,000 or less” in the UK – that’s $37,000 US today.
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