Tesla Inc. sparked a stir at an event on October 7 as investors and analysts anticipated the launch of an affordable electric vehicle (EV) to help offset falling sales.
The anticipation sent shares of the Elon Musk-led EV maker soaring more than 5% yesterday.
Tesla also drew attention with a brief nine-second video on its X platform on Sunday, showing a silhouette of the vehicle in the dark with the words ‘10/7’ at the end, hinting at the launch event.
The video was posted after Tesla posted record deliveries for the third quarter, driven by a surge in EV purchases ahead of the September 30 expiration of the $7,500 tax credit.
However, analysts expect Tesla’s annual deliveries to decline for the second straight year to around 1.62 million units due to the end of incentives, weak demand and political controversy involving CEO Elon Musk.
Tesla previously delayed the launch of a low-cost version of the Model Y in the United States (US).
In June, the company announced that the “first build” had been completed, but sales would only begin in the fourth quarter with production gradually ramping up.
The base version is designed to be about 20% cheaper than the updated Model Y and is expected to reach a capacity of 250,000 units per year in the US by 2026.
Tesla has not launched a new mass-market vehicle in years, instead relying on improvements to the Model 3 and Model Y to boost sales.
