David Zalubowski/Associated Press
- Tesla lowered prices for vehicles shipped to China to boost sales in the region, Bloomberg reported.
- The company also removed two vehicles from its US product lineup and adjusted the prices of other vehicles in the lineup, according to Reuters.
- Shares slid on the news.
- Watch Tesla trade live on Markets Insider.
Shares of Tesla lost more than 2% in early trading Tuesday after it slashed prices for vehicles shipped to China, cut two vehicles from its US lineup, and lowered the price of a third.
Early Tuesday, the company cut prices for all vehicles shipped to China in an effort to increase sales in the second-largest market for its cars, Bloomberg reported.
A list provided by a Tesla representative showed that the imported price of the Model 3, Model S, and Model X were all lowered by as much as 4%. The change won’t impact prices of Model 3 cars that are produced in Shanghai, the representative confirmed to Bloomberg.
“In order to make purchasing our vehicles even simpler, we are standardizing our global vehicle lineup and streamlining the number of trim packages offered for Model S, Model X and Model 3,” said Tesla in a statement.
Tesla has also streamlined its vehicle lineup in the US. Monday, Tesla dropped standard-range variants of its Model X and Model S from its US vehicle lineup, Reuters reported. The company also adjusted prices for other models in the US range of vehicles — the Model X and Model S will be more expensive, while the mass-market Model 3 will start at $38,990.
Tesla has long struggled to manufacture its cars in-line with the expectations of the global auto industry, Business Insider’s Matthew DeBord reported. It’s created a dramatic contrast between the brand’s image to consumers and the news around its production efficiency. While Tesla has sold close to 250,000 cars in the last year, it remains dogged by production issues.
The company has had positive signs of fixing the problem as of late — it beat analyst expectations in its second quarter earnings release, when it produced a record 87,048 vehicles in the second quarter and delivered another 95,200. Shares surged as much as 8% on the news, regaining some of the losses seen so far this year.
Tesla is down more than 18% year to date.
