Model 3 inventories up -- any deals happening?

[mreynolds767]

Q1 numbers just came out and they did much better than anyone expected.
They cannot make any more cars right now so even though sales will be slow they have a finite number of cars to sell.

So add those 2 together and getting any deals on anything non-demo is just not an option.

 

[SDM44]

Q1 numbers just came out and they did much better than anyone expected.
They cannot make any more cars right now so even though sales will be slow they have a finite number of cars to sell.

So add those 2 together and getting any deals on anything non-demo is just not an option.

Pretty much this. There's also a few things to take into consideration as well.

In CA, non-essential businesses are to stay shut down until the end of April (for now), but that timeline could always get pushed back even further. That means if the Fremont factory doesn't start producing cars again for another 4 weeks or more, you might get some people who wants or needs a Tesla now, and are willing to compromise on their order spec in order to get a new inventory car now. I just did that earlier this week and took home delivery of my Model 3 the next day. When you start to see more of that, then new inventory may dry up sooner than later. However, there's also a good number of people postponing or canceling their orders as well, since their job or financial situation may not be as good as it was before all of this, and they're waiting to see how this all plays out.

It's still unknown these days when the factory will actually start producing cars again, and even then we're not sure if Tesla will skip the North American builds and start building non-NA cars and then get to the North American builds near the end of Q2 (June), so that's another thing to consider.

 

[ElectricIAC]

Has anyone tried to get freebies when buying from the current inventory? All-weather floor mats...

The only freebies right now are oil changes.

 

[OCR1]

New Model 3 inventory in the US dropped from 2,800 to 2,000 in the past couple of days. So I’d say they are still moving a fair amount of vehicles considering what’s going on right now with the pandemic. Keep watching the remaining 2,000 vehicle inventory if you are hoping to see any deals. If the remaining inventory keeps dropping steadily I would not expect to see any discounts. If it goes stagnant for a while it may create an opportunity.

 

[ElectricIAC]

They could have just delisted them to create a sense of urgency.

 

[Ritz]

They could have just delisted them to create a sense of urgency.

What is your angle to project a vision of "plenty" in the marketplace? I'm not seeing it. There just aren't that many cars in the pipeline and manufacturing has been halted (by decree). Why on earth would there be any discounting? They just beat their Q1 earnings. shrug....

 

[Jeffgtx]

They did not beat their Q1 earnings. earnings have not been released yet. They beat their Q1 deliveries, but those were revised downwards due to the corona situation. They did not beat the original Q1 estimates.

There are a lot of conclusions being drawn here without real data. we do not know how much inventory there is. There are cars that have disappeared and come back online in the past week. I have seen it.

There have been inventory cars go up in price earlier this week and then back down today. I have seen it.

We do not know how many cancellation or delay requests they are getting. we do not know the match of what they got out of the factory versus orders people are still willing to take.

I dont see how either side can make a conclusive determination. there are too many unknowns.

 

[ElectricIAC]

What is your angle to project a vision of "plenty" in the marketplace? I'm not seeing it. There just aren't that many cars in the pipeline and manufacturing has been halted (by decree). Why on earth would there be any discounting? They just beat their Q1 earnings. shrug....

Because it’s in their best interest to show a lower inventory than what’s actually available to aid in protecting the price. It’s not like you won’t find the specification you want since they simplify the option menu.

 

[Ritz]

My bad...it was delivery numbers, not earnings that were reported.

Tesla soars on delivery numbers -- company delivered 88,400 vehicles in Q1

 

[OCR1]

Model 3 inventory in North America is now below 1,000. It was 2,000 on Friday. I’d say these cars are moving very quickly. I now feel comfortable predicting there will not be any discounts on cars other than the small discounts on demo/fleet cars that have always been around.

 

[ElectricIAC]

They built 15K cars over what they sold overall per Q1 reports. They didn’t sell 12-14K other cars inside of a week. If they’re disappearing it’s because they’re being delisted.

Could be trying to get a jump on Q2 deliveries for EU and shipping them out that way rather than have them sit.

 

[OCR1]

They built 15K cars over what they sold overall per Q1 reports. They didn’t sell 12-14K other cars inside of a week. If they’re disappearing it’s because they’re being delisted.

Could be trying to get a jump on Q2 deliveries for EU and shipping them out that way rather than have them sit.

North American Model 3’s can’t be shipped to the EU. They have different regulations and the cars are built specifically for each region. Charging plugs are different as well.

There is no good business justification to delist Model 3’s. Except for a small number of enthusiasts who hang out on this forum, most people have no clue how to look up the total inventory of Model 3’s in North America, nor would they have any interest. They will look at their local inventory and see if a car that matches their trim and color preferences is available. If Tesla were to delist these cars they would prevent buyers from placing orders. There is no reason for them to do this.

Selling 1,000 cars over the weekend is nothing for Tesla. Most people buy cars on the weekend when they have time to take delivery.

 

[Jeffgtx]

Their selling run rate last qtr when people could still go outside was less than 1000 cars per day worldwide.

you’re suggesting they now sold that runrate in North America alone where they can’t even deliver in some areas.

having seen cars appear and disappear repeatedly over the last month, I’m inclined to believe they were removed from the system rather than sold.

having said that I don’t see a reason for them to incentivize sales this early in the quarter anyway. They are limited at production and delivery. They can probably only handle the trickle they’ve got.

 

[ElectricIAC]

I’ll poke around and see what the real story is.

 

[OCR1]

Their selling run rate last qtr when people could still go outside was less than 1000 cars per day worldwide.

you’re suggesting they now sold that runrate in North America alone where they can’t even deliver in some areas.

having seen cars appear and disappear repeatedly over the last month, I’m inclined to believe they were removed from the system rather than sold.

having said that I don’t see a reason for them to incentivize sales this early in the quarter anyway. They are limited at production and delivery. They can probably only handle the trickle they’ve got.

What possible strategy could they have for removing vehicles that are readily available for sale and preventing people from buying them?

 

[Seascape]

What possible strategy could they have for removing vehicles that are readily available for sale and preventing people from buying them?

I have noticed that the same model and configuration for one location are available on and off all the time. Even at Fremont deliver hub. I would imagine they would at least make one model available all the time at least. Showing on and off maybe an interesting tactic.

 

[Jeffgtx]

That they can’t sell them. They are taxed and can’t handle additional sales Because of lock down orders. that the system automatically removes them after a time delay and no one has noticed yet. That that’s what they always do in month 1 of a qtr.
that there is no strategy. Any number of possibilities.

 

[mattack4000]

Some have to go to stores as new demo and showroom cars

 

[byeLT4]

What possible strategy could they have for removing vehicles that are readily available for sale and preventing people from buying them?

To create a false demand. When there was 2500+ 3s available and growing, some people (myself included) were thinking 'discounts coming, I'll wait to purchase' vs. under 800 now and no production 'if I want one I better get it now, it'll be months before more are coming'. Plus, behind the scenes we know Tesla can see more available inventory than currently shows, so they can still match them up to a car and sell an 'unlisted' one.

 

[OCR1]

I’m not convinced any of these conspiracy theories make sense. Very few people know how to look up the total North American inventory of Tesla vehicles. And with malls and retail stores being shut down throughout the country, on line sales are the primary method of selling Tesla vehicles. Removing them from inventory prevents people from buying them. Doing this to “trick” a handful of Tesla enthusiasts who are using site aggregators to track demand is just plain silly. I don’t buy it.