Tesla looks to win back customers with worldwide cuts in EV prices

A Tesla charging station is seen, Sept. 28, 2023, in Woodstock, Ga.

Tesla is to cut the price of some of its cars in an effort to combat declining sales and growing competition.

Prices will be reduced in Germany – Tesla’s biggest European market – and elsewhere in Europe as well as the Middle East and Africa, the company has revealed.

In Germany, the cost of the Model 3 rear wheel drive will fall from  €42,990 to €40,990.

The news comes after the world’s largest EV maker cut around a third off the price of its “Full Self Driving” system – which is not a self-drive which means drivers must remain alert and be ready to intervene – to $8,000 (€7,505) from $12,000 (€11,258).

Tesla also took $2,000 off the prices of three of its five models in the United States, the Model Y, a small SUV which is Tesla’s most popular model and the top-selling electric vehicle in the US, and also of the Models X and S, its older and more expensive models.

The company has been struggling with falling sales and an increasing price war in the market for EVs, especially against Chinese competitors. There are reports that CEO Elon Musk’s personal reputation also plays a role in how the company performs.

Tesla recently announced it had seen an 8.5% fall in quarterly deliveries, in the first three months of the year, the first in nearly four years. Wall Street is eyeing the EV maker’s quarterly earnings report, due on Tuesday, expecting a further deceleration in Tesla’s revenue growth and net income.

The price reduction came the day after Tesla’s stock dropped below $150 per share, wiping out all gains made over the past year. The Texas-based company’s stock price has dropped about 40% so far this year amid falling sales and increased competition.