Tesla Slashes Car Prices In China After US Cuts

(RTTNews) - Tesla Inc. has cut prices across its various models in China, after similar cuts in the United States, as the luxury electric car maker is struggling with slower demand and severe .

On the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, Tesla shares were down 3.4 percent in the initial trading, at $142.05.

In China, the starting price of the revamped Model 3 was reduced by 14,000 yuan to 231,900 yuan. The company also cut prices of Model Y, Model S and the Model S Plaid, and Model X regular and plaid variant.

On Friday, the company had reportedly reduced the prices of its Model Y, Model X and Model S vehicles in the U.S. by $2,000.

Over the weekend, the company also slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving or FSD driver assistant software to $8,000 from $12,000 in the U.S.

The carmaker has been struggling of late amid weak demand and tough competition in the U.S. and Europe, as well as in its major market of China.

Early this month, Tesla had reported weak production and deliveries in its first quarter, partially due to the early phase of the production ramp of the updated Model 3 at Fremont factory and factory shutdowns resulting from shipping diversions caused by the Red Sea conflict and an arson attack at Gigafactory Berlin.

In late March, Bloomberg reported that Tesla has cut down its electric vehicle production at its Giga Shanghai factory in China due to sluggish growth in the sales of new-energy vehicles, tough competition and price war. Tesla had also limited manufacturing of EV parts.

Earlier last week, the carmaker had announced that it was cutting more than 10% of its global workforce amid the slowdown in EV demand. The proposed job cuts at the world's largest EV maker is likely to impact around 14,000 staff from the global employee strength of around 140,000 in early 2024.

In a memo, Musk then stated that duplication of roles as well as the need for cost reductions are the reasons behind the decision. According to him, the planned job cut would enable Tesla to be lean, innovative, and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.