Tesla cuts US Model S and Model X prices between 4% and 9%

March 5 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) has cut the prices of its two most expensive electric cars in the United States, according to the company’s website, days after Chief Executive Elon Musk said recent price cuts on other models had boosted demand.

The price cuts, Tesla̵[ads1]7;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 will focus on lowering prices to drive demand, and has seen success in getting 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 latest price cuts.

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

It has adjusted prices since at a pace and frequency that goes beyond what established automakers have attempted in an industry where a car’s base price is still referred to as a “sticker price” of a vehicle in inventory.

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. The two lower-cost models, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, made up the rest.

Tesla’s website showed that it had cut the prices of both versions of the Model S by $5,000. The base 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 on both the performance and base variants of Model X cars were cut by $10,000, the electric car maker’s website showed. The price of the base AWD version of the Model X was cut by 9% to $99,990, while the 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

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