‘Can’t sell its cars’: Horror news for Tesla owners as prices plunge

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A slump in demand for Teslas and a backlog of supply of new vehicles have seen prices slashed in Australia, sparking concern and anger among owners of the iconic electric vehicles.

About this time two years ago, a Model Y rear-wheel drive was fetching $72,300 drive away, with the price dipping marginally to about $69,000 some 12 months later.

Right now, the top-selling EV from the American automaker, owned and run by controversial billionaire Elon Musk, is considerably cheaper – in the ballpark of $60,900.

A Sunshine Coast man picked up his new Model Y recently, which he bought for $60,000 plus on-road coasts, and was dismayed to see the same deal two weeks later for $5000 less.

“Basically, Tesla can’t sell its cars due to Elon’s behaviour,” finance giant Ross Gerber declared on X, formerly Twitter, last month.

Mr Gerber is the chief executive of investment firm Gerber Kawasaki and an investor in Tesla itself and lays the blame for the automaker’s underwhelming performance at the feet of Mr Musk.

Demand for Teslas slumps

In the first quarter of 2024, Tesla sold more than 386,000 vehicles globally, making it the world’s biggest EV brand.

But that number was significantly lower than the sales forecast of 457,000 vehicles, which the company and Wall Street had been banking on.

It was also 20 per cent down on the December quarter results and more than eight per cent lower than the same quarter in 2023.

Tesla blamed its flat results on shipping disruptions in the Red Sea and an arson attack at its German factory, but Mr Gerber isn’t convinced.

In his spray on X, which Mr Musk owns, he said: “Let’s stop blaming the Houthi rebels or German environmental terrorists. Or a recession that never came. Or interest rates. Only one person responsible for this.”

‘Can’t sell its cars’: Horror news for Tesla owners as prices plunge | Herald Sun