Tesla to release updated Model S as soon as next week
Apr 8, 2016, 2:16pm PDT
TESLA
Tesla Model S to be adding more luxury features to its sedan.
For those who thought last month’s release of the Model 3 meant the prices of the Model S would soon go down—don't get too comfortable.
CNET, a technology news and review site, reported Friday that Tesla is revealing an updated version, and price, of its Model S as soon as next week.
The Palo Alto-based company will be making a series of manufacturing updates and adding more luxury features to the Model S, CNET reported. The changes come as the Model S is facing competition from within—the Model 3—and needs to differentiate itself for customers who are attracted to BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.
Immediate changes, CNET said, will include new color choices, LED headlights and a slight design change on the nose to look more like that of the Model X and Model 3. On the inside, the Model S will reportedly alter the front seats to look more like the Model X front seats, including offering ventilation, and door storage.
“Tesla is constantly innovating and adding new features to our vehicles to perpetually improve Tesla vehicles for our existing and future customers,” the company said in a statement skirting rumors on Friday.
The Model S, which took both the
No. 1 and No. 2 spots on Consumer Reports' list of best cars for 2015, was released in 2012 and starts at around $70,000. But don’t expect that price to go down anytime soon. Tesla is reportedly selling the last of the previous generation’s inventory to welcome the updated Model S, whose price will likely increase, according to CNET.
Though Tesla didn’t confirm the style changes, the company said price changes will take effect in April. “We price our vehicles consistently throughout the world, which requires us to adjust pricing to foreign currency exchange rates,” Tesla said.
In the first quarter, Tesla sold 12,420 Model S sedans and just 2,400 units of the X, which was hit with some parts shortages. The total sales number of 14,820 fell 8 percent short of what the company had previously thought.
So far, about 325,000 pre-orders have been put in for the
Model 3, which was unveiled last month. The car isn't expected to ship until late 2017.
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