Tesla cuts U.S. Model S and Model X prices between 4% and 9%

(Reuters) -Tesla Inc has cut prices on its two most expensive electric vehicles in the United States, according to the company’s website, days after Chief Executive Elon Musk said recent price cuts on other models had stoked demand.

The price cuts, Tesla’s fifth adjustment since the start of the year, ranged from 4% on the performance version of the Model S to 9% on the more expensive Model X.

Musk has said repeatedly in recent months that Tesla would focus on bringing prices down to drive demand and that it had seen success in sparking orders with global discounts introduced in January.

“The desire for people to own a Tesla is extremely high. The limiting factor is their ability to pay for a Tesla,” Musk said last week at Tesla’s investor day.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the most recent price cuts.

Tesla slashed prices on its cars across all of its markets in January, offering discounts of up to 20% in what many analysts saw as the start of a price war by the electric vehicle market leader.

It has been adjusting prices since with a pace and frequency that goes beyond what established automaker’s have attempted in an industry where a car’s base price is still referred to as a “sticker price” on a vehicle in inventory.

The Model S and Model X, which come in base all-wheel drive (AWD) and performance “Plaid” editions, represented about 4% of Tesla’s global deliveries in 2022. Its two cheaper models, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, made up the rest.

Tesla’s website showed it had cut prices on both versions of its Model S by $5,000. The basic version of Model S was cut by 5% to $89,990, while the price of the performance, Plaid variant was cut by 4% to $109,990.

Prices of both the performance and basic variants of Model X cars were cut by $10,000, the electric vehicle maker’s website showed. The price of the basic, AWD version of the Model X was cut by 9% to $99,990 while its performance Plaid version was cut by 8% to $109,990.

Tesla has a new version of the Model 3 codenamed “Highland” scheduled to go into production later this year and a change to the Model Y codenamed “Juniper” for next year, Reuters has reported.

(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; writing by Kevin Krolicki, Editing by Kim Coghill, Bradley Perrett and Sonali Paul)