Elon Musk Dismisses The Notion Teslas Are Expensive Cars — 'More Affordable Than People Realize'

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday addressed the perception of Tesla as an expensive vehicle.

What Happened: “A lot of people still think Teslas are super expensive,” Musk said in an interview with CNBC after the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday. Musk pins down the perception to how Tesla started with expensive sports cars, and then moved to slightly less expensive sedans and SUVs.

“But now we’re at the point where the starting point of a Tesla is actually below the average selling price of a car in the United States,” Musk said. “A Tesla is actually more affordable than people realize.”

Tesla is also the safest car on the road, Musk said. “Statistics speak for themselves. This is not a matter of opinion,” he said.

Why It Matters: Tesla commenced price cuts in the U.S. in January with price cuts of up to 19.7%. The slew of price cuts enabled better first-quarter deliveries for the EV giant and added pressure on rival EV makers to cut costs to battle competition.

However, since the onset of May, Tesla has increased the prices of its Model S and Model X vehicles by $1000, Model Y by $500, and Model 3 by $250. But despite the recent price hikes, Tesla vehicles are still priced considerably lower than at the beginning of the year.

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