Tesla Inc. presented a freshened version of its entry-level Model 3 that adds premium features including ventilated seats, ambient lighting and a rear-seat infotainment screen.
The upgraded Model 3 will be displayed at the 2023 Munich auto show.
The EV leader also announced surprise price cuts for other models late Thursday as CEO Elon Musk seeks 50 percent sales growth this year globally, even at the expense of profits.
“More sophisticated materials, ventilated seats and customizable ambient lighting,” Tesla Europe said of the Model 3 on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “More refined and relaxed ride quality, thanks to a combination of stiffer body and updated suspension tuning.” Musk is the majority owner of X.
A check of Tesla’s global websites showed that orders for the freshened Model 3 went live on Thursday for selected countries, but not the U.S. The Model 3 has not been significantly freshened since its launch in 2017.
The automaker started taking orders for the updated model in European countries, including Germany and Italy, with deliveries expected by the end of the year. Tesla’s websites in China, Australia and Japan were also showing the freshened model for order. For some markets, deliveries were estimated for the first quarter of 2024.
Tesla also reduced prices on its flagship models in the U.S., the Model S sedan and Model X crossover.
The Model S now starts at $76,630, with shipping, for the long-range version with 405 miles of range. Previously, the most inexpensive model was the Model S standard range at $80,130, with shipping, and 320 miles of range. The standard range was no longer on the U.S. Tesla website late Thursday.
Tesla also removed the standard range version of the Model X, which had started at $90,130, with shipping, for 269 miles of range. The base model is now the long range at $81,630 with shipping and 348 miles of range. And because the new base Model X is $79,990 before shipping, it now qualifies for the $7,500 tax credit, Tesla said on its website.
The decision to both cut the prices of the base S and X models and to offer significantly more range came just two weeks after Tesla introduced the standard range models with a $10,000 discount over long-range models.
Another surprise Thursday was Tesla’s price reduction for the advanced driver-assistance software it calls Full Self-Driving Capability. The price was reduced from $15,000 to $12,000. It does not make a Tesla autonomous but Musk has promised for years that it eventually will, turning existing Tesla models into robotaxis that can generate income.
The cuts follow several rounds of discounting this year that already have taken a toll on the company’s automotive gross profit margin, which fell to a four-year low in the second quarter, according to Bloomberg.
Tesla disbanded its media office in 2020 and does not respond to media requests. Tesla was still selling the non-freshened version of the Model 3 on its U.S. website late Thursday.
For the Model 3, the freshen was expected and gives the entry model a more elegant look and premium features typical of rivals in the compact luxury sedan segment.
Some upgrades mirror the automaker’s flagship Model S sedan, including a new steering wheel with no stalks. The turn-signal indicators have been moved to the left side of the wheel as buttons.
“Settle into an all-new interior, featuring a wraparound styling that cocoons you inside,” Tesla said on its Australian website. “Customize ambient lighting to make it your own.”
On the outside, Tesla has fitted the compact sedan with new front and rear fascias with fresh headlamps and tail-lamps, according to images on the global websites. Tesla said there were new colors — “stealth gray and ultra red” — and new tires and wheels that generate less cabin noise.
U.K. website Carwow, an online marketplace that offers vehicle reviews, said in a YouTube video that Tesla presented the car as being 8 percent more efficient from aerodynamic gains, but that the Model 3’s motors and battery options had not changed.
Carwow — citing Tesla data — said the freshened Model 3 had a 30 percent improvement in wind noise, an improved suspension for greater road isolation and an optional stereo with 17 speakers instead of 14.
In China, the starting price for the base model of the freshened Model 3 was 12 percent higher, with deliveries expected in the fourth quarter, Reuters reported. The car’s range increased about 9 percent to 377 miles. China uses its own testing standard to determine range. U.S. range numbers are generally lower in the U.S. than in China.
Bloomberg said that analysts were looking for a lower price tag in China that could help the company defend its leading EV position, under growing threat from domestic rivals like BYD Co. — which aims to sell 3 million vehicles this year — and Nio Inc. and Xpeng Inc.
Tesla is also expected to launch its highly anticipated and long delayed Cybertruck pickup in the U.S. in coming weeks. The automaker has not announced an official date for first deliveries of the pickup, but it has teased invitations for an event in Austin, Texas with the timing to be determined.