It’s no secret that the end of the month can be
a good time to haggle with a car dealer. But if you’re out shopping for a Tesla, then you don’t have the same monthly pressures that affect how regular car dealers operate. On top of that, Tesla CEO Elon Muck once said that car companies releasing monthly sales figures gives media the chance to, “read all sorts of nonsense into the deliveries.” This is why Tesla
doesn’t reveal monthly numbers. But Tesla
does have to announce how many vehicles it sells every quarter (thanks, SEC), and that’s leading to an unusual opportunity for deals on the world’s most coveted electric car brand.
Earlier this month, Musk
sent out an email to Tesla employees that said they should work to, “deliver every car we possibly can” because it “would be awesome to throw a pie in the face of all naysayers on Wall Street who keep insisting that Tesla will always be a money loser!” He also wrote:
I thought it was important to write you a note directly to let you know how critical this quarter is. The third quarter will be our last chance to show investors that Tesla can be at least slightly positive cash flow and profitable before the Model 3 reaches full production. … The simple reality of it is that we will be in a far better position to convince potential investors to bet on us if the headline is not ‘Tesla Loses Money Again,’ but rather ‘Tesla Defies All Expectations and Achieves Profitability. That would be amazing!”
In other words, the pressure is on. And the result is that it appears that some buyers are able to drive their new cars off the lot, rather than having to wait a few weeks, according to
Electrek. While Tesla doesn’t have stereotypical, plaid-suit wearing car dealers, the company is turning to time-honored traditions like adding extra discounts (up to $7,500, if
reports on Tesla Motors Club are accurate). Last quarter, Tesla said it increased its production rate, but also
said that it wanted to “produce and deliver about 50,000 vehicles during the second half of 2016, approximately equal to all of 2015.” That means an average of 25,000 in the third and fourth quarters. Tesla only delivered 14,370 vehicles in the second quarter.
It’s no surprise that a car company wants to sell cars. But right now, buyers might be able to leverage the unique situation Tesla is in to a good deal on a new EV.
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