Recent buyers’ anger as Tesla cuts prices by £8,000 overnight

Buyers who splashed out just last week found their vehicles crashed in value overnight by up to £8,000.

Website Electrifying.com said drivers who bought a Tesla last month could have saved a total of £130million by waiting for the discounts.

One angry motorist who picked by a new car only yesterday raged: “I can’t believe after a few hours from picking up the car I lost £5k.”

Tesla put the electric car market into a spin after announcing the starting price for a Model Y had been cut by £7,000 to £44,990.

Meanwhile, entry level Model 3s have been reduced by £8,100 to £42,990.

The models were the top two best-sellers in the UK last month, with a total of 16,368 registered at the old higher prices.

It comes after Tesla, led by billionaire Elon Musk, saw below-expected deliveries for the last quarter of 2022.

Members of a Facebook group for UK Tesla owners expressed their frustration.

One wrote: “I just picked up the car yesterday. What should I do? Give it back? I can’t believe after a few hours from picking up the car I lost £5k.” Another said they “paid £5,000 more last week”.

And one suggested: “(It) would be nice if they made a gesture to us.”

Ginny Buckley, CEO of Electrifying.com, said: “Carmakers usually carefully manage prices…to avoid crashing used values and upsetting customers.” She said the move would send “shockwaves through the industry”.

James Baggott, editor of Car Dealer Magazine, said: “While these price cuts are great news for new Tesla buyers, there will be 16,000 owners who took delivery in December who will be furious they paid the higher price. These cuts will have a severe negative impact on the used car market.”

He advised buyers who have not yet taken delivery to cancel and reorder. But for drivers who already have their cars, “there’s little they can do”.

Tesla said it had seen “a normalisation of some of the cost inflation” due to “supply chain disuptions” last year, which it had passed on to customers.