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 A few mega packs would probably have served as decent backup.
  • Lou_BC Lead sleds. Now-a-days GM would just use Bondo.
  • Jrhurren This is a great series. Thanks Corey
  • Tane94 Not as stylish as the Soul which it is replacing but a practical shape and bonus points for EV only.
  • Ronin What is the magical white swan event in the foreseeable future that will suddenly reverse the trend?Success tends to follow success, and likewise failure. The perception, other than among true believers, is that e-cars are a lost cause. Neither government fiat, nor government bribery, nor even the promise of superior virtue among one's peers have been enough to push past the early adapter curve. Either the bust-out is right now for e-cars, or it doesn't happen. Marketing 101.Even subtle language-manipulation, such as deeming those possessing common sense as suffering from some sort of vague anxiety (eg, "range anxiety") has not been enough to induce people to care.Twenty years from now funny AI-generated comedians will make fun of the '20s, and their obsession with theose silly half-forgotten EVs. They will point out that, yes, EVs actually ran on electricity generated by such organic fuels as coal and natural gas after all, and then they will perform synthesized laughter at us.
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