Tesla cuts prices of Model S in United States and China

Tesla Inc said on Tuesday it reduced the price of its Model S “Long Range” sedan by 4% in the United States, days after the automaker reported record quarterly deliveries.

The automaker, which is expected to report third-quarter results on October 21, reduced the price to $71,990 from $74,990 in the United States. It also reduced the starting price of the Model S by 3% in China.

Previously this month, Tesla reduced the starting price of its Chinese-made Model 3 sedans by about 8% to 249,900 yuan ($37,042).

Tesla has been slashing prices on various models in its lineup at the same time some other automakers are trying to make inroads in the electric vehicle market by introducing their own electric cars.

Tesla said it has made deliveries of 139,300 vehicles in the third quarter, an all-time record, yet shares dropped as some analysts doubted if the automaker could hit its ambitious year-end target.

Last week, the company’s CEO Elon Musk informed employees that Tesla has a chance to produce a half-million cars by 2020.

The automaker said in January that 2020 vehicle deliveries should exceed 500,000 units, a forecast it has left unchanged regardless of the coronavirus crisis.

This means the automaker will have to boost deliveries to almost 182,000 in the fourth quarter to reach that target.