‘I feel like I got duped’: Tesla price drop angers current owners

Tesla vehicles at a Tesla delivery center in Marina Del Rey, California, US, on Jan 13, 2023. Tesla Inc cut prices across its lineup in the US and major European markets in the carmakers latest effort to stoke demand after several quarters of disappointing deliveries. — Bloomberg

Marianne Simmons, a self-professed “Tesla fan girl”, bought her second electric vehicle from the company in September: a white, high-performance Model Y ringing in at more than US$77,000 (RM333,795). Then the company slashed prices and she realised she could have bought the same car today at US$13,000 (RM56,355) less.

“I feel like I got duped. I feel like I got taken advantage of as a consumer,” said Simmons, 32, a web designer in Naples, Florida. “Right off the bat, I’m out US$13,306 (RM57,681). It’s such a large reduction that it’s going to affect a lot of people who just bought a vehicle.”