We've all seen the frustration here, both those who bought recently and those who now will see their used car value plummet. I felt it in 2019 after the price of my 2018 Model 3 dropped a ton. But aside from vent, I am trying to figure out, just how would we want a company to drop prices? Of things I have thought of, they all have problems:
- They could not drop prices, ever -- but that can't be sustained in a competitive market or one where costs decline.
- They could offer a rebate to those who bought recently -- but what about those who bought 1 day before that cutoff?
- They could offer a rebate based on a sliding scale of how long ago you bought -- but there's still people who bought 1 day before that starts.
- They could announce the price-cuts in advance -- but lose all sales until they happen.
- They could keep margins thin so price cuts are not possible -- but that's not how you run a business.
- They could give software goodies to people who bought before the price cut, like discounted FSD or premium connectivity -- this could work but what about those who bought FSD, and as always, what's the cutoff?
- Other car companies drop prices through their dealers, with incentives, rebates and having the dealer able to offer deals to those who negotiate for them. Should Tesla start having dealers to let this happen?