Three years after he promised to sell an all-electric Model 3 mass-market sedan for $35,000 before incentives, Elon Musk is finally coming through. The Tesla Inc. chief executive announced Thursday that a low-priced, range version will soon be available in the U.S.
Musk also announced that the companyB次元官网网址檚 cars will be sold online only. Retail stores will be converted into showrooms and information centers, he said. He didnB次元官网网址檛 say how many stores will close, or whether the shift will affect the companyB次元官网网址檚 workforce.
Tesla promised a $35,000 Model 3 in March of 2016 and began taking refundable $1,000 deposits.
B次元官网网址淲e do not expect to be profitable in the first quarter,B次元官网网址� Musk said during a conference call Thursday, because of B次元官网网址渟pecial chargesB次元官网网址� and the costs of sending cars to China and Europe.
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ThereB次元官网网址檚 a lot going on,B次元官网网址� he said. A profit in the second quarter is B次元官网网址渓ikely,B次元官网网址� he said.
Musk used his Twitter account Tuesday night to tease ThursdayB次元官网网址檚 announcement. He continued teasing Wednesday, offering no details on the mystery. Between the stock marketB次元官网网址檚 opening on Wednesday to the close on Thursday, Tesla stock gained more than $18 a share, or about 6 percent, finishing at $319.88.
The Model 3 news comes on the heels of a contempt charge filed against Musk on Monday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC claims Musk violated the fraud settlement reached with the agency last September by tweeting false information about the number of cars Tesla plans to produce this year, and by sending the tweet without getting corporate permission first, as the settlement requires.
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