For the first time in its short – and so far rosy – history, Tesla has to deal with a crisis. The electric market has grown and above all it was shaken by the wind of competition from China. The giant BYD and other brands that offer cars with smaller prices and even smaller dimensions are threatening Musk’s empire. And Musk must take action. The first step was to cut costs: 10 percent of Tesla’s workforce was laid off, which translates into 14 thousand employees left at home. The second is to return to entice customers.
Price cuts
Tesla announced the price cut in the United States of its Model Y, which is the most popular model and the best-selling electric car in the United States. The initial cost is now equal to 42,990 dollars, two thousand dollars less than before. But the prices will also be lowered by the same amount Model (will start from $77,990) and the Model S (will start at $72,990). Only the price list of Model 3 and Cybertruck will not be affected. However, the cuts do not only concern the United States. In China and Germany it will be the Model 3 that is more convenient: here too you will save the equivalent of around two thousand dollars. Tesla is then planning declines in other countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The price of Autopilot halved
Tesla has also decided to reduce the cost of its autonomous or assisted driving software, the Full Self-Driving (FSD). This service is under subscription and the monthly price went from $199 to $99. Halved, practically. The one-time payment option of $12,000 remains. It should be noted that the cost of FSD was already 99 dollars per month for those who already had a subscription to Autopilot, i.e. the previous generation and therefore less powerful software. However, Autopilot is now standard on all new cars and therefore it was decided to eliminate this price difference, which in the future would have disappeared naturally anyway. To be clear, the FSD also allows you to take advantage of autonomous driving – always strictly under the supervision of the human being behind the wheel on urban roads or state roads as well as on motorways. He’s able to make turns, accelerate and brake, respect traffic lights and other signs. In the United States, there are many doubts about the safety of this system: federal authorities are investigating 16 accidents involving Teslas with active FSD.
The Call of the Cybertruck
The third step to bring Tesla back on a stable path of economic growth could be to propose new models. But here too things are not going well, with blocked projects and dangerous unexpected events. According to Reuters, however, the company has the project to develop a new, more economical car was suspendedwith a price of around 25 thousand dollars, which was said to be called Model 2. Musk denied this, and immediately afterwards relaunched by announcing the debut of its first robotaxis next August 8th. In the meantime, it has to deal with another emergency involving another product: according to a document filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla had to recall nearly four thousand Cybertrucks – all those it has distributed since launch in late 2023 – due to a problem in the accelerator pedal. It seems that, in some episodes, it got stuck in the internal lining, causing involuntary acceleration of the vehicle.
