Teslarati 
Tesla’s price cuts and the electric vehicle maker’s volatile purchase prices have received some criticism from Renault CEO Luca de Meo. The CEO noted that Tesla’s pricing strategy could very well damage customer confidence in the value of their electric cars.
Tesla is unlike other carmakers in the market, and it shows in the way that its vehicles are improved over time. It is also known for its fluctuating vehicle prices. Last year, Tesla rolled out several price increases, and earlier this year, price cuts were implemented on the company’s entire vehicle lineup.
“I hope that they (Tesla) continue(s) to reduce to zero, but we will continue to protect the value of our electric vehicles. This is destroying value for the customer, for sure, when you do this,” de Meo noted.
The Renault CEO’s criticism of the Elon Musk-led EV maker came amidst the veteran automaker’s step up in its electric vehicle sales. Renault has become the third-largest electric vehicle brand in Europe, as noted in a Financial Times report.
The Renault CEO’s comments, while it may seem very negative towards Tesla, actually makes sense to a point. One should remember that following Tesla’s price cuts to its vehicle lineup earlier this year, numerous electric vehicle owners who were persuaded by the company to take delivery of their cars by the end of 2022 were very unhappy.
The owners’ sentiments were so notable that an online petition was filed asking Tesla to provide its late 2022 customers with some compensation. The petition on Change.org asked the electric vehicle maker to consider providing options such as free Supercharging miles or free one-year FSD subscription for owners who took delivery in late 2022. While the petition was met with dismissal from members of the EV community, its creation was understandable.
Without Tesla’s late 2022 customers, after all, the company would not have been able to deliver a total of 1,313,851 vehicles in 2022, representing a growth of 40% year-over-year.
