Tesla cuts prices in Germany, France to boost demand

BERLIN — Tesla’s latest price reductions in Europe were made possible because of a scaling up and improvement in its production capacity, the company said.

Tesla cut prices in European markets including Germany and France on Friday, with all versions of the Model 3, Model S, and Model X selling for lower prices as well as the Model Y Performance.

“Our mission is to accelerate the transition to renewable energy. Our master plan has set a clear pathway to achieve that mission: the transformation of cost-intensive small-series products to cheaper mass-series vehicles,” Tesla said in a statement.

In Germany, Tesla has lowered the price of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles by between 4.5 percent and 9.8 percent, data on its website showed on Friday, marking its second price reduction this year after price cuts of up to 17 percent in January.

In France, customers buying the Model 3 for 44,990 euros ($47,860.36) will now get a further price reduction through a government subsidy of 5,000 euros. The upper limit for the EV scheme is 47,000 euros.

On April 2, Tesla posted a record quarterly deliveries of 422,875 vehicles January to March after cutting prices of its cars globally, but quarter-on-quarter sales growth was modest because of rising competition and a bleach economic outlook.

CEO Elon Musk said Tesla would focus on bringing prices down to drive demand and that it had seen success in sparking orders with January’s discounts.

In the US, Tesla has cut the price of its base Model 3 by a cumulative 11 percent since the start of the year, with a 20 percent reduction on its base Model Y.