Tesla Buyers To Gain Little From Having A Referral Anymore — Is Demand Surging Or Margins Tightening?

EV giant Tesla Inc TSLA on Thursday cut the discount a buyer can get on having a referral code to merely $250 for all its models in the U.S.

What Happened: On purchasing a new Model S, 3, X or Y with a referral code, the buyer will now get three months of full self-driving capability and a discount of $250 instead of $500.

The further drop in discount comes merely a month after the company dropped referral discount on its premium Model S and X vehicles from $1000 to $500. The company then also cut the number of credits the referrer would get from 20,000 to 10,000 credits.

Why It Matters: Tesla has been constantly shaking up its referral program, incentives and rewards, leaving little room for prospective buyers and referrers to hold their decision to buy a new car or use their credits for an offer.

While some Tesla enthusiasts on X deem the changes to be because Tesla anticipates high demand in the last quarter, others see it as part of the trend of trimming incentives to help the company’s margins.

In summer earlier this year, buyers who purchased the Model S and X with a referral code got a $1000 discount while those who bought a Model 3 or Y got a $500 discount.

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