NZ's most popular electric car gets another price cut

Sunday, 12 February 2023

Model 3 pricing has been up and down like a yo-yo since it launched in New Zealand.

For the second time in two months, Tesla has lowered pricing on its two most popular models sold in New Zealand – the Model 3 and Model Y.

The entry-level Model 3 is now priced from $68,900 plus on-road costs, and the entry-level Model Y priced from $73,900; signalling a $2,000 drop.

The Tesla Model 3's huge touchscreen is very impressive, plus you can play video games on it.

The price of each nameplate’s flagship Performance grades are unchanged.

The change in pricing means that the two models have had their prices lowered by between $5,000 and $6,000 in the first two months of this year alone.

Curiously, the latest round of pricing changes are not universal. New Zealand’s price reduction appears to echo that seen in North America. But, in Australia prices for the Model 3 and Model Y went up late this week. And in China, entry-level Model Y pricing went up.

The Tesla Model Y overtook the Model 3 for popularity the moment it launched to market.

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Tesla has never been shy about applying adjustments to its vehicle pricing ‘on the fly’, with the Model 3 having already been subjected to an almost $8,000 price jump spread across several years.

While Tesla have yet to comment on why it chose to lower prices in certain regions, it’s tipped that the brand did so as part of an ongoing effort to match some of its emerging competitors.

Numerous market analysts told the Financial Times this week that Tesla’s trigger-happy changes are a result of a perceived closing gap between the electric-car manufacturer and fast-learning legacy brands like Ford.

One analyst, Tyson Jominy of JD Power, described it by saying “it’s not a price war, it’s a regional skirmish”. Some have also linked the fluctuations to the company’s often changing stock price.

Its stocks took a beating during the tail end of 2022 as CEO Elon Musk acquired Twitter, although stock prices rallied in January – rising some 98% between January 3 and February 10.