Tesla has implemented a very small price increase on Model 3 and Model Y. It’s so small that it’s hard to explain, but it does result in a discount on new inventory vehicles.
After consistently and gradually increasing its electric vehicle prices over the last two years, Tesla has started bringing those prices down in 2023 to keep demand up.
It started with a big price drop in early January, and then some smaller price adjustments after with the latest coming in February for Model 3 and Model Y, and last month for Model S and Model X.
We thought Tesla would take a break from reducing prices, but the automaker again slashed prices across its entire lineup, and again last month.
As we reported last night, Tesla updated its Model 3 and Model Y configurations to increase the price of all trims by $250.
The fact that the price adjustment is an increase, which goes against the trend this year, and a very small one is puzzling.
Previously, Tesla has changed prices by up to several thousand dollars at once or as little as $500, but it’s the first time the automaker has made an adjustment by such a small amount.
While the small amount isn’t likely to have much of an impact, it is still surprising that it is an increase considering Tesla’s new vehicle inventory reached a new high last week.
One thing that we didn’t notice at first is that this time, the price change didn’t affect Tesla’s new inventory vehicles, unlike all the recent price decreases.
Top comment by Jon Erickson
Definitely seems suspiciously small. Two things I can think of.
They are raising prices to generate headlines to get people to think they are starting to raise prices again. This generates FOMO and gets people on the sidelines to finally buy. They could be at the correct price for supply and demand but people are waiting to find the bottom which artificially lowers demand. This gives people the perception they only missed the bottom by $250.
They are going to make smaller adjustments going forward as needed. They could also be more frequent so its no longer a headline and something people pay attention to. If they changed prices up or down by $250 per week would anyone pay attention after a few weeks?
Tesla generally adjusts new inventory vehicles, which are considered brand-new vehicles eligible for the federal tax credit just like new build orders, with every price adjustment, but not this time.
Electrek checked new inventory vehicles in the US and the same configurations are now discounted by $250 over new orders:
Again, the difference is not significant, but it is a change for Tesla and could indicate a new strategy to try to move some inventory, which again has recently reached new highs.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.
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