Cheaper Tesla Model Y coming.
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It looks like sales of the revised Tesla Model Y aren’t as great as previously reported. Tesla‘s short term answer will be to offer a cheaper version later this year.
At least for the local market, the cheaper Model Y will keep most of its mechanical features intact like the battery and powertrain. But some features will be taken out. The Model Y currently comes pretty loaded even in its cheapest trim. Including a glass roof, high-end sound system, heating and cooling seats, etc… Tesla even added a standard powered rear seat to access the cargo.
Tesla tried this last year with a discontented version of the Model 3 in Mexico, offered with cloth seats and a few other things missing.
Tesla sales are down everywhere even in China where they plunged 49% from last year. The Model Y alone saw a huge 77% drop. Tesla claimed they had accumulated 200,000 orders for the revised Model Y in China. However, actually deliveries tell another story. With volume actually lower than for the previous version.
Tesla had drastically lowered their Model Y pricing a few years ago from $66,000 to $48,000 overnight. And sales exploded. The Model Y starts at around $46,000 in the US. However, it seems that currently, only the refresh version is available in the Launch Edition trim for $60,000. The site currently takes you to cars “available in your area”. It seems you can now only order the Launch Edition. Many of these new unsold cars are available (The non-refreshed Molde Y) are priced under $35,000. Or about $20,000 less than just a few weeks or even days ago. Again, these are new cars, not used…
This means Tesla is getting ready to offer more trims of the “new’ Model Y soon. As soon as they got rid of the new unsold cars that is.
Tesla is facing more competition in China than anywhere in the world. The Model 3 has been outsold by the new Xiaomu sedan for a few months. And many new models are coming to compete against the Model Y. It will be a very tough situation for Tesla very soon. As these competitors are working hard on all-new cas. Unlike Tesla which is just currently refreshing its aging models.
A cheaper Model Y with a steel roof, fewer speakers, or cloth seats might not be the answer to Tesla’s problem in China…