Fleet manager drops Tesla because ‘prices fluctuate too much’

A fleet manager for SAP, a large software company, says that it is dropping Tesla from its fleet because “their prices fluctuate more”.

Tesla has consistently reduced prices over the last two years. It has been great for new buyers and making EVs more affordable, but it’s not all positive.

It has destroyed the resale value for current owners. That has been particularly hard for fleet owners. Companies like Autonomy and Hertz, who owned large Tesla fleets, have seen their value drop significantly, and in the case of the latter, they decided to divest.

Now SAP, which has favored Tesla vehicles for their fleet electrification, told Handelsblatt that SAP is removing Tesla from its list of company car suppliers.

Steffen Krautwasser, fleet manager at SAP, said that the prices fluctuate too much:

“The list prices fluctuate more at Tesla than at other manufacturers, which makes planning more difficult and poses a higher risk for us.”

Interestingly, the manager complained that Tesla often delivers the vehicle ahead of the agreed time:

“From Tesla’s perspective, this is understandable, but it causes problems for us.”

Apparently, the early deliveries have resulted in storage and logistic issues for SAP.

Electrek’s Take

It has been an issue. There’s no way around it. Fleet purchases have been a great boost to Tesla’s demand over the last two years, but the timing hasn’t been great for fleet managers.

Tesla burned them. They thought they were making a great move for the companies by onboarding vehicles that would have a lower total cost of ownership thanks to massive fuel savings, but in most cases, those have been negated by the loss in value.

At least, price drops have slowed down in the US over the last few months, but they are still happening in Europe and Canada.

Lately, we have seen Tesla increase its advertising spend instead of cutting prices. Hopefully, that strategy work and Tesla vehicles can start maintaining a more predictable resale value – making the vehicles more attractive to fleet managers.