Musk sent an all-staff email this afternoon, saying Tesla will lay off 10% of its employees worldwide.
Earlier, foreign media reported that some employees said the layoff rate may be as high as 20%. However, according to verification, Tesla’s official all-employee letter was released at around 3:00 pm on April 15th, Beijing time, confirming that the layoff ratio would be 10%.
Some media asked Tesla store employees in China to confirm the news. The other party said that they had not received the notification yet, but it would not have an impact on the business. Tesla has more than 140,000 employees worldwide, according to a December filing with regulators.
Entering April this year, a new round of “price war” among car companies has begun. According to incomplete statistics, more than 10 brands have successively launched preferential activities since April.
In addition to price reductions, consumers are attracted through various methods such as price reductions for additional equipment, separation of vehicles and electricity, and replacement subsidies.
With Xiaomi Motors’ first car officially launched, priced starting at 215,900 yuan, new entrants have made the price war even more intense.
Tesla also followed up with price cuts. In January this year, Tesla took the lead in launching a new round of price war in the Chinese market. In the following February and March, Tesla announced limited-time discounts and insurance subsidies respectively, and launched designated car paint discounts and financial low-interest discounts to further lower the product purchase threshold.
On April 3, Tesla’s official WeChat announced a limited-time low-interest replacement policy for Model 3/Y models, and launched a “0-interest” installment car purchase preferential policy for the first time.
According to the latest policy, if you order the latest Model 3/Y model before the end of April, you can enjoy 0 interest for up to 3 years or ultra-low interest for 5 years. Taking 36 interest-free installments over 3 years as an example, you can drive a Model Y with only a down payment of 79,900 yuan.
Facing the increasingly fierce price war in the domestic new energy vehicle market, Tesla has to follow suit in terms of price policy; at the same time, Tesla’s global delivery data in the first quarter of 2024 has declined rapidly year-on-year, which has sharply increased operating pressure.
On April 2, local time in the United States, Tesla announced delivery data for the first quarter of 2023. Data shows that Tesla delivered a total of 386,800 vehicles globally from January to March this year, a new low in the past five quarters. Deliveries fell 8.5% compared with the same period last year and 20.2% compared with the fourth quarter of last year.
According to foreign media reports, Tesla has canceled affordable electric cars and will continue to develop driverless taxis on the same small car platform.
Guodu Securities pointed out that Tesla’s Model 3 currently on sale has a starting price of 245,900 yuan, making it Tesla’s cheapest model. It is expected that as the market age increases and competition in the auto market intensifies, subsequent prices are expected to be similar to those of older models. It is gradually approaching 200,000 yuan. Therefore, if Tesla launches affordable models (Model 2 or other), the price will fall into the price range of 150,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan. At the same time, the body size will also be smaller and the space will be more cost-effective. Low, competition among models in the same price range is fierce, and sales are difficult to increase.
Affected by rumors of layoffs and declining performance, Tesla’s stock price has also fluctuated. On April 12, local time, Tesla closed at $171.05, a drop of 2.03%. Tesla’s stock price has fallen by about 31% this year.
