Tesla has been on a rocky road for quite some time, but the last couple of months have been nothing short of brutal as the sales figures have plunged to new lows. Tesla held high hopes on the updated Model Y, which was launched in January, but with better and more modern EV options in the market and the anti-Elon Musk wave has flattened the initial sales of the new EV. The California-based EV maker took the additional step of offering customers flexible finance schemes, but the demand remained low. According to Reuters, Tesla is offering financing deals as low as 0% on the 2025 Model Y. Tesla investors were banking on a revamped flagship compact SUV to boost sales, but steep financing offers and abundant Model Y inventory indicate those hopes may be misplaced.
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“Why would you discount and have all these incentives and offers literally out of the gate?” asked Loren McDonald, chief analyst with EV data firm Paren. “That just doesn’t make sense when your margins are already at multiyear lows. That suggests very strongly that there is a demand problem.”
Global sales data on the refreshed Model Y is not yet available, leading analysts to pursue clues on how Tesla is marketing the vehicle and whether it appears to be in short supply. Supplies are not tight. The refreshed version is available immediately in many parts of the world, with some units already available in Tesla’s inventory. That is a far cry from the long wait times typically seen for the previous Model Y, which was the highest-selling car in the world last year.
In fact, overall Tesla sales in Europe continued to plunge in April across key countries, data showed this month. Sales in China dropped over 8% last month, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Sunday.
After Tesla reported its first drop in annual deliveries last year, Musk pulled back his forecast of a 30% increase in vehicle sales this year and said simply that Tesla would return to growth. Last month, Tesla said it would revisit that forecast in three months in light of “shifting global trade policy.” After a 13% drop in first-quarter vehicle sales, analysts expect Tesla deliveries to fall again this year.
Reuters stated that Tesla did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.
