Tesla decided once again that paid advertising will not be what it needs to succeed until the current quarter ends. Instead of trying to reach even more people living in North America, the EV maker adopted what could be an even better strategy – cutting MSRPs yet again.
It's not looking good for existing owners who hoped their zero-emission Tesla EVs would hold their value better until the facelift eventually arrived stateside. The automaker applied new discounts to the Model 3 and Model Y. These two models are now cheaper. However, there is one exception.
The non-Highland Tesla Model 3 now starts at $38,990 when ordered as a single-motor rear-wheel-drive sedan. If you are eligible for the EV tax credit, the price can drop to $31,490 after getting the tax return. That doesn't account for other incentives available locally. The Model 3 RWD used to have an MSRP of $40,240.
The all-wheel-drive dual-motor Model 3 Long Range is currently priced at $45,990, while the enhanced Model 3 Performance might look enticing to more people with its starting cost of $50,990.
Thus, the newest discounts amount to $1,250 for the Model 3 RWD and Model 3 Long Range, while the Performance version benefits from a larger price cut of $2,250.
Tesla also made the very popular Model Y cheaper but only applied discounts to the Long Range and Performance versions. The recently introduced single-motor Model Y RWD costs the same, which is $43,990.
Photo: Tesla
Tesla Model Y MSRP in October 2022
Prospective customers will see an MSRP of $48,490 for the dual-motor all-electric crossover SUV, while the amped-up variant starts from $52,490. That amounts to $2,000 in discounts for each Model Y.
Sadly, there are no discounts available when writing for the Canadian market. These new values are only available to US citizens.
Three years ago, customers had to pay nearly $65,000 before tax for a Model Y Long Range. But we don't have to go this far back. Last year, a spanking-new Model 3 Long Range (called "Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive" 12 months ago), for example, used to have a starting cost of $62,990.
It looks like removing the ultrasonic sensors (USS) and the radar helped the world's most valuable automaker tremendously.
Photo: Tesla
However, even though some buyers are not happy about seeing the value of their EVs plummeting on the secondary market, this was to be expected. The brand has a dynamic pricing policy about which we warned our readers last year. The end of 2022 brought forward a couple of interesting offers, and January 2023 kickstarted the much-awaited pricing downtrend.
Besides wanting to keep its delivery numbers at a satisfactory level for investors, Tesla also wants to put more Americans behind the steering wheel of more Model 3s and Model Ys because the refreshed units should pop out anytime now. The facelifted sedan has already been seen testing in the US, so it should make its official debut stateside soon enough.
On the other hand, the Model Y is expected to adopt the design cues seen on the "Highland" Model 3, but there's no real indication of that happening until 2024. A slightly improved version of the all-electric crossover SUV was launched in China at the beginning of Q4 2023, but it didn't drop the "faceless fish" look.
Still, we can expect the vehicle to follow in its little sibling's footsteps because renderings have shown it looking pretty good with the new design language.
Finally, Tesla also changed its website's homepage. It now features a current-gen Model Y. Beforehand, it was the Model 3 that appeared first. That could signal an update coming very soon, if not immediately.
Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one. Full profile
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