Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has begun offering a heavily discounted 0.99% financing option for the purchase of its Model Y electric vehicles in North America, and venture capitalist and Deepwater Management Partner Gene Munster offered his take on the development in a post on Monday.
Material Development: Tesla is the "master" at tweaking prices to optimize demand," said Munster. The fund manager noted that demand has been soft over the past five months. He noted that Tesla buyers can save $8,000 over an average six-year loan with a 1% interest rate relative to a 7% rate.
While noting that a majority of cars are now purchased with some sort of financing, Munster said, "This is material and gives me confidence that June quarter deliveries will improve from March."
The tech analyst said he expects a 1%-4% year-over-year decline in June quarter deliveries versus the 1% drop forecast by Street and the 9% drop seen in the March quarter.
Not all share the same enthusiasm. Prominent short seller Jim Chanos sees this move as a camouflaged price cut. Replying to a Tesla fan's comments that the reduced financing offer is an "absolute game changer," the short seller said, "Who wants to tell him this is just another price cut...?"
Who wants to tell him this is just another price cut...? $TSLA
— Diogenes (@WallStCynic) May 11, 2024
Why It's Important: After emerging out of the COVID-19 pandemic unscathed, Tesla's fundamentals began to falter amid deteriorating economic conditions. Rising inflation ate away at consumers' disposable income and kept them from spending on discretionary items such as cars.
Tesla went all out with the strategy of under-cutting competition to preserve its market share but it backfired as rivals followed suit. The price cuts have steeply eroded margins and profitability.
The Elon Musk-led company has opted to go with the "razor-razorblade" strategy, by sacrificing the margins of the auto business to make up for the shortfall with a high-margin, recurring revenue stream by selling its full self-driving software.
In premarket trading, Tesla shares rose 0.29% to $172.38, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
特斯拉公司（納斯達克股票代碼：TSLA）已開始爲在北美購買其Model Y電動汽車提供0.99％的大幅折扣融資選項，風險投資家兼深水管理合夥人吉恩·芒斯特在週一的一篇文章中表達了他對這一開發的看法。
材料開發：特斯拉是調整價格以優化需求的 “大師”，” 芒斯特說。該基金經理指出，在過去五個月中，需求一直疲軟。他指出，與平均六年期貸款相比，特斯拉買家可以節省8,000美元，利率爲1％，而利率爲7％。
芒斯特指出，現在大多數汽車都是通過某種融資購買的，但他說：“這很重要，讓我有信心6月季度的交付量將比3月份有所改善。”
這位科技分析師表示，他預計6月季度的交付量將同比下降1％-4％，而華爾街預測的下降幅度爲1％，3月季度的下降幅度爲9％。
並非所有人都抱有同樣的熱情。著名的賣空者吉姆·查諾斯將此舉視爲僞裝的降價。賣空者在回應特斯拉粉絲關於減少的融資提議 “絕對改變了遊戲規則” 的評論時說：“誰願意告訴他這只是又一次降價...？”
誰想告訴他這只是又一次降價...？$TSLA
— 第歐根尼 (@WallStCynic) 2024 年 5 月 11 日
爲何重要：在毫髮無損地擺脫了 COVID-19 疫情之後，在經濟狀況惡化的情況下，特斯拉的基本面開始步履蹣跚。通貨膨脹率上升吞噬了消費者的可支配收入，使他們無法在汽車等自由支配物品上消費。
特斯拉全力以赴地推行了削弱競爭以保持其市場份額的戰略，但隨着競爭對手的效仿，這適得其反。降價嚴重侵蝕了利潤率和盈利能力。
這家由埃隆·馬斯克領導的公司選擇採取 “剃刀刃” 戰略，通過出售其完整的自動駕駛軟件，犧牲汽車業務的利潤，以高利潤的經常性收入來源彌補短缺。
根據Benzinga Pro的數據，在盤前交易中，特斯拉股價上漲0.29％，至172.38美元。
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