Tesla switches to online sales and cuts costs

The electric car producer Tesla plans to close showrooms and is switching to online sales in order to save costs and lower the price of Model 3 to $35,000, the company announced. Still in September 2018, the average selling price of Model 3 exceeded $50,000.

Closing physical stores will allow the firm to cut costs by about 5 percent, savings it is using to reduce prices across its line-up of vehicles, CEO Elon Musk said. When asked by the BBC, he declined to say how many stores would close, or how many people will lose their jobs as a result of the move. Tesla currently has 378 stores and service locations worldwide.