Buyers waiting for a Tesla Model S P85D, complete with “Insane Mode,” can have one in about three weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal. But if you’re not buying the most expensive model Tesla currently offers, prepare to be on the wait list for a couple of months.
WSJ reporter Mike Ramsey confirmed with a Tesla spokesperson that the company is prioritizing deliveries of the dual-motor, all-wheel drive P85D, a car that starts around $105,000. And by doing that, it’s trying to give transaction prices a short-term jolt ahead of the next earnings report.
So far this year, the stock has dropped more than 10 percent. This month, Elon Musk confirmed his company would layoff about a third of its Chinese workforce amid slow sales in that market.
Right now, Tesla is walking a fine line between meeting is sales projections (55,000 worldwide in 2015) and stopping losses. While the P85D has certainly added attention to the three-year-old Model S sedan, there’s no question many potential buyers are waiting for the Model X to go into production. As with other small automakers, Tesla is losing momentum because it has a tiny lineup at the moment and a lack of new model introductions.
But the lesson of this may sound familiar: if you want something more quickly, be prepared to pay more.
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