Tesla ditches EV inventory price discounts
TESLA has ended discounts on inventory across its electric vehicle lineup — even as sales for EVs have flagged — as part of a larger and vague plan by CEO Elon Musk to “streamline the whole Tesla sales and delivery system.”
“It has become complex and inefficient,” Musk wrote in a post on X, the social media company he owns, in response to another user’s comment.
Musk’s announcement on X comes a day after thousands of Tesla employees lost their jobs. The layoffs, which will affect more than 10% of staff or about 14,000 people, were caused by poor financial performance, one source told TechCrunch.
One of Tesla’s delivery workers who was cut this week and spoke to TechCrunch on the condition of anonymity said their location was “short staffed” but still lost multiple employees. Tesla appears to have also eliminated most job listings — save a handful of postings related to its Manufacturing Development Program — from its North America careers page, suggesting a hiring freeze.
Rohan Patel, formerly Tesla’s
VP of Public Policy and Business Development, told TechCrunch he also left the company Monday because of “[b]ig overall changes” at the company. Patel was one of two high-profile executives to leave Tesla this week, alongside Drew Baglino, formerly Tesla’s SVP of Powertrain and Energy.
The decision to end discounts across its lineup in the United States, including the Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X, is a bit of a whiplash moment for Tesla. The company raised prices for most of 2022.