Tesla’s new inventory vehicles are going down following a high earlier this year as recent discounts, new tax credits, and referrals appear to be working.
High-interest rates and inflation have reduced the pool of new car buyers and made the auto market more competitive.
To compete, Tesla has slashed prices on new orders throughout the year.
More recently, the automaker stopped reducing prices on new orders, but it offered extra discounts on new inventory vehicles and launched a new referral program last month.
In April, Tesla hit a new record high in new inventory vehicles in the US.
Since then, Tesla offered an extra discount on some new inventory vehicles and increased the referral awards.
The incentives to buy appear to be working as new inventory data tracked by Matt Jung shows that Tesla’s new inventory vehicles in the US have come down from the highs:
That’s a nearly 20% drop in just a few weeks. Furthermore, Tesla’s inventory is generally going up in the US around this time of the quarter as US production moves to produce vehicles for the local market.
Here’s Tesla’s new inventory per model:
During the recent high in inventory, Model X was surprisingly the problem, but inventory of the luxury SUV has gone down significantly.
Model S and Model Y inventory have remained stable, which is particularly surprising for the Model Y, considering the impressive production capacity that Tesla has for the electric SUV in the US.
It appears that Model 3 is now the problem, which would explain why Tesla has increased the discount on new Model 3 inventory.
Electrek’s Take
Top comment by VoltMan
This is a big about-face. Just 72 hours ago, Electrek told us that the Model 3 price reductions were a harbinger of an imminent release of Project Highland. I countered that similar reductions were already seen in Model Y and the odds of Project Highland and Project Juniper rolling out simultaneously are low. This is just a 2023 inventory glut.
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In summary, the M3 existing inventory discounts were NOT because Project HIghland is done right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla sweetened the deal by an extra $1000 discount to cut the glut.
I would expect that Model 3 won’t be a problem for long with the news that now even the base version is getting the full $7,500 tax credit.
It is making the car ridiculously cheap and likely a good enough deal to make people forget that the new version is coming soon.
On a more anecdotal basis, an impressive number of people have reached out to me in the last few weeks about buying a new Tesla. It seems like the discount and referral program are working well.
If you are thinking of buying a Tesla and have questions or want a referral code/link, you can reach out to me at fred@electrek.co.
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