Tesla Makes 'Bizarre' Reversal

It now says stores will stay open, prices will go up
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 12, 2019 3:42 AM CDT
Tesla Does U-Turn on Closing Stores
The company logo hangs outside the door to a Tesla store in Cherry Creek Mall in Denver.   (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

After announcing earlier this month that it would close most of its stores and lower prices, Tesla has revealed an updated strategy of keeping its stores open and raising prices. Stores that closed around a week ago are already reopening, including outlets in Hawaii and California, Bloomberg reports. "Over the past two weeks we have been closely evaluating every single Tesla retail location, and we have decided to keep significantly more stores open than previously announced," the company said in a blog post, adding that it "will need to raise vehicle prices by about 3% on average worldwide."

Tesla said current prices will remain in place until March 18, and the price of the recently announced $35,000 Model 3 will not go up. Analysts say the sudden U-turn doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the company's leadership. "This reversal is bizarre and indicates a lack of actual planning in the earlier announcement," Gartner analyst Mike Ramsey tells the New York Times. "Their retail stores still serve a real need." Lawyers for CEO Elon Musk, meanwhile, argued in a court filing Monday that he should not be held in contempt of court over a Feb. 19 tweet that hadn't been pre-approved by the company, the AP reports. (More Tesla stories.)

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