Tesla increases Model S and Model X prices

Tesla has increased Model S and Model X prices by $2,000 across the board. Interesting move has sales are collapsing.

As we recently reported, Tesla Model S/X sales are crashing and Tesla is hiding it.

Tesla is the only major automaker that doesn’t break down its sales by model. It bundles all Model S, Model X, Cybertruck, and Tesla Semi deliveries together, making it hard to track the health of each individual program.

Based on decent estimates of Cybertruck and Tesla Semi deliveries, we estimate Model S/X sales around 12,000-13,000 units last quarter, which would mean they would be down 31-37% year-over-year.

Despite the clear slowdown in sales, Tesla has decided to increase the price of all Model S and Model X overnight. All prices went up by $2,000.

Here are the new prices:

• Model S:
  • Long Range: $74,990
  • Plaid: $89,990
• Model X:
  • Long Range: $79,990
  • Plaid: $94,990

Overnight, Tesla also pushed an update for Model X options. As you can see, even with the price increase, Tesla kept the price of the Model X Long Range under the $80,000 MSRP limit to get access to the federal tax credit.

But Tesla made it so if you buy the $8,000 FSD package, which is a software upgrade, you get the 7-seat option for free – maintaining eligibility to the tax credit.

Electrek’s Take

It’s weird for Tesla to increase prices as sales are doing badly, but at the same time, I think pricing in the premium segments is not as important as it is for Model 3 and Model Y.

There’s a sentiment that Tesla is sot of giving up on Model S and Model X as 3/Y volumes completely dwarf their sales. It’s understandable.

But again, I think it highlights Tesla’s limited ability to advance several vehicle programs at the same time. As an automaker, it is probably Tesla’s biggest weakness compared to legacy automakers, who have more experience juggling several vehicle programs at the same time.