Tesla Looks to Boost Model Y Sales with Threats of Nearing Price Increases

Chris Teague
by Chris Teague

The Tesla Model Y is a wildly popular EV on the global stage, but the automaker is still looking for ways to boost sales and keep it relevant. As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2024, Tesla is pushing the Model Y with a message that prices will increase on April 1 in hopes that the threat of higher purchase price s will drive buyers to act in the next two weeks.


Without a dealer network to act as a financial buffer between it and buyers, Tesla’s numbers look worse the more vehicles it has sitting in inventory. That has led the company to offer various promotions and discounts in the past, either through price cuts or the offer of free charging with a vehicle purchase. While this move isn’t a discount, it could incentivize buyers to purchase before the end of the quarter and make Tesla’s books look healthier to start the year.


These moves are not at all surprising for Tesla, but the company is in an interesting position. It does virtually zero marketing and does not have a communications department to field journalists’ inquiries. At the same time, its business model allows it to pivot quickly and offer incentives to boost sales when needed.


While boosting quarter-end sales is a good idea for Tesla, the discounts are regular enough now that it starts to look silly to buy one at any other time of the year. If you’re almost guaranteed to get a discount, there’s no reason to shop until Tesla cranks up the incentives. Even so, the company will likely remain in its dominant position atop the EV market in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, as other automakers are grappling with shifting demand for electric models and rising costs.


[Image: Tesla]


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Chris Teague
Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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  • El scotto El scotto on Mar 18, 2024

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  • Probert They already have hybrids, but these won't ever be them as they are built on the modular E-GMP skateboard.
  • Justin You guys still looking for that sportbak? I just saw one on the Facebook marketplace in Arizona
  • 28-Cars-Later I cannot remember what happens now, but there are whiteblocks in this period which develop a "tick" like sound which indicates they are toast (maybe head gasket?). Ten or so years ago I looked at an '03 or '04 S60 (I forget why) and I brought my Volvo indy along to tell me if it was worth my time - it ticked and that's when I learned this. This XC90 is probably worth about $300 as it sits, not kidding, and it will cost you conservatively $2500 for an engine swap (all the ones I see on car-part.com have north of 130K miles starting at $1,100 and that's not including freight to a shop, shop labor, other internals to do such as timing belt while engine out etc).
  • 28-Cars-Later Ford reported it lost $132,000 for each of its 10,000 electric vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2024, according to CNN. The sales were down 20 percent from the first quarter of 2023 and would “drag down earnings for the company overall.”The losses include “hundreds of millions being spent on research and development of the next generation of EVs for Ford. Those investments are years away from paying off.” [if they ever are recouped] Ford is the only major carmaker breaking out EV numbers by themselves. But other marques likely suffer similar losses. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fords-120000-loss-vehicle-shows-california-ev-goals-are-impossible Given these facts, how did Tesla ever produce anything in volume let alone profit?
  • AZFelix Let's forego all of this dilly-dallying with autonomous cars and cut right to the chase and the only real solution.
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