$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
Here's the title and lede to Tesla's February 28, 2019 announcement that got widespread media coverage:
Fast forward a month later, it seems not a single $35,000 Standard Range car has been produced. There are no pictures of the standard interior anywhere on the internet, aside from a rendering on the Tesla site. (In fact, nobody at Tesla has been able to tell me the number of ways the manual seats adjust.)
To me, it seems like the "$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now" announcement was actually a means to generate excitement and demand before the end of Q1 2019, even though they knew $35,000 SR cars would not be manufactured, let alone delivered, anytime soon. The estimated 2-4 week timeframe has, predictably, grown to 6-8 weeks, but it's looking more like June 2019 now -- dangerously close to the tax credit halving again.
I'm OK with Tesla selling the more profitable versions first. I just think it's a bit dishonest and slimy of Tesla to make a big "$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now" announcement when it's actually not available. IMO, the purpose of the announcement was really to drive up demand for the Model 3 SR+ (second paragraph in the announcement), but I suppose a "$37,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now" press release wouldn't have resulted in the same media buzz, since $35,000 has been the magic number.
More critically, it was a way for Tesla to get people to commit to $2,500 order payments and then upsell them once they were in the system.
Here's the title and lede to Tesla's February 28, 2019 announcement that got widespread media coverage:
$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now
The Tesla Team - February 28, 2019
We are incredibly excited to announce that the standard Model 3, with 220 miles of range, a top speed of 130 mph and 0-60 mph acceleration of 5.6 seconds is now available at $35,000! Although lower in cost, it is built to achieve the same perfect 5-star safety rating as the longer-ranged version, which has the lowest probability of injury of any car ever tested by the U.S. Government.
Fast forward a month later, it seems not a single $35,000 Standard Range car has been produced. There are no pictures of the standard interior anywhere on the internet, aside from a rendering on the Tesla site. (In fact, nobody at Tesla has been able to tell me the number of ways the manual seats adjust.)
To me, it seems like the "$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now" announcement was actually a means to generate excitement and demand before the end of Q1 2019, even though they knew $35,000 SR cars would not be manufactured, let alone delivered, anytime soon. The estimated 2-4 week timeframe has, predictably, grown to 6-8 weeks, but it's looking more like June 2019 now -- dangerously close to the tax credit halving again.
I'm OK with Tesla selling the more profitable versions first. I just think it's a bit dishonest and slimy of Tesla to make a big "$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now" announcement when it's actually not available. IMO, the purpose of the announcement was really to drive up demand for the Model 3 SR+ (second paragraph in the announcement), but I suppose a "$37,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now" press release wouldn't have resulted in the same media buzz, since $35,000 has been the magic number.
More critically, it was a way for Tesla to get people to commit to $2,500 order payments and then upsell them once they were in the system.
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