On Friday, Tesla quietly increased the prices of four of its electric vehicles after reporting a record third-quarter profit of $1.6 billion. Electrek was the first to report that Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y entry-level electric vehicles are now $2,000 more expensive than their predecessors. Aside from that, the starting prices for the Model S and Model X will increase by $5,000, to $94,990 and $104,990, respectively.
The global semiconductor shortage, which has affected other automakers, did not stop Tesla from having a strong third quarter. Model 3 and Model Y price increases in the first half of 2021 will be largely due to supply chain shortages, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who stated this in June. It was able to support different chips, however, because the company rewrote its vehicle software.
A number of other automakers such as Volkswagen and Ford have had less luck, and have taken measures like raising vehicle prices and temporarily closing factories to try to weather the chip crisis.
However, Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn stated during the company's third-quarter earnings call with investors that increased demand for electric vehicles is the reason for the latest price increases.
“caught us a little bit off guard.”
“Sometimes, to the public, our pricing changes may not seem to make logical sense,” Kirkhorn said. “But, you know, there is a strategy that we work behind the scenes as we’re balancing supply and demand, as we’re also trying to balance various shortages on parts, as we’re trying to manage wait times. All of that goes into the optimization here.”
and then 