Yahoo Autos Tesla is gunning for America's top-selling SUVs
This much is clear from Tesla Inc.’s fifth price cut this year: Elon Musk is dead set on seizing much more of America’s SUV market.
Tesla’s Model Y already became one of the three best-selling sport utility vehicles in the U.S. last year. That was remarkable considering the starting price of the Model Y was more than double the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, the market’s perennial favorites.
Bloomberg has been tracking what Tesla charges for its models relative to the industry average since the beginning of this year (see the earlier reports here and here). Read on for four storylines that have emerged from the company’s latest cuts.
The Model Y drop is transformative
A 24% price decline in three months is practically unheard of for such a high-volume vehicle. The closest analog may be the Model T, which Ford made dramatically cheaper in the 1920s by way of the moving assembly line.
The Model Y now starts at $49,990, or $42,490 for those who qualify for the federal incentive. That’s about $5,300 less than the average price paid for a new vehicle in the U.S. during the month of March, according to Edmunds.
