Tesla Inc. shares extended declines after a House Republican said the U.S. tax bill being introduced Thursday would repeal credits given to electric-vehicle buyers. The stock plunged as much as 8.9 percent to $292.63, the lowest intraday since May 4. Mike Bishop, a Michigan Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, told reporters his assumption was that the credits would be phased out immediately. The fall in shares slashed Musk net worth by over $800 million and is now worth some $19.1 bn, as per Forbes’ real-time World’s Billionaires rankings.
The tax credits for as much as $7,500 per electric vehicle purchased are capped for each car manufacturer at 200,000 units, a limit no automaker has reached thus far. Tesla sold about 127,000 Model S sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles through August, according to researcher IHS Markit. Shares of the carmaker run by Elon Musk opened lower Thursday after the company delayed production targets for its Model 3 sedan and posted a record quarterly loss.
