SAN FRANCISCO: Tesla Inc said on Thursday it would offer a $35,000 version of its Model 3 sedan with a delivery time of two to four weeks, while closing many of its retail stores worldwide, steps designed to increase demand and cut overhead costs for the electric vehicle maker.
Chief Executive Elon Musk on a conference call said the company would not turn a profit in the first quarter but would return to profitability in the second, CNBC reported. In its fourth-quarter shareholder letter, Tesla had said its "optimistic target" was for a "very small" net profit in the first quarter.
Shares of Tesla fell 3.4 per cent after hours. Investors have regularly voiced concerns about whether Tesla would be able to maintain profit margins through cost cutting - such as recent layoffs - and efficiency as it cut prices of its newest vehicle.
Still, the price drop could quell concerns from some analysts that demand for the higher-priced versions of the Model 3 was beginning to dry up, especially after a federal tax credit was cut in half this year.
"Tesla wants to drum up demand," said Elazar Advisors' Chaim Siegel. "There was a slowdown in the US as the tax credits dropped. More tax credit hits later in the year too so they are trying to be proactive."
The announcement comes nearly three years after Musk promised the car at that price to appeal to the mass market. Tesla said its sales would now be online-only around the world and it would close many stores.
"Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6 per cent on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point earlier than we expected," Tesla said in a blog on its website
The new sales strategy is a dramatic shift for the company that has prided itself on its boutique retail stores. In June 2017, Musk pledged to increase the number of stores, saying they had "barely touched the surface" of what was possible.
As of the fourth quarter, Tesla said it recently opened 27 new locations, bringing its total of stores and service centers to 378.
Thursday was the third time this year that Tesla lowered the price on the Model 3, which recently started at $42,900.
The new $35,000 version has a top speed of 130 miles per hour (209 km per hour) and can go from zero to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, Tesla said. For $2,000 more, Tesla offers a version with a range of 240 miles (386 km) and a top speed of 140 mph.
A $35,000 Model 3 is a major shot in the arm for Tesla during a period of major challenges for the Silicon Valley company and could put to rest concerns among some analysts that demand for Tesla's vehicles might be constrained in 2019. Besides the Model 3, Tesla is developing a new Model Y SUV for 2020 production, while beginning to build a factory in Shanghai.
"This is a game changer," Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said in a telephone interview. "Especially at this juncture when they're going through such a difficult period as the EV (electric vehicle) tax credit rolls off in the US, this is really exactly what the doctor ordered."