- Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted he's making "some Tesla news."
- Tesla (TSLA) shares gained 5% on Wednesday, but are flat today.
- On Thursday Tesla announced that its highly-anticipated $35,000 Model 3 is finally available to order.
Tesla unveiled its new $35,000 Model 3 car on Thursday, which comes with a much lower price tag than the company's other offerings.
"This is an important milestone for Tesla," said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds, an automotive research company.
She cautioned that with the accompanying tax credit "winding down" from $7,500 to $3,750, "it might be too little, too late."
Caldwell said it's a good sign Tesla CEO Elon Musk is keeping his promise to create an electric car for the masses, however the options available at an approachable price point are still limited.
"If this model had come out when the Model 3 first launched and passion for Tesla was at its peak, shoppers might have given more latitude," Caldwell said. "But the expectations have been set and it's likely going to be a tough sell moving forward."
Now comes the hard part, according to Karl Brauer, executive publisher at Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader:
Musk dropped this shocker on the call just now:
Musk added that “it’s excruciatingly difficult” to produce the Model 3 at a $35,000 price point and remain financially sustainable. There has to be layoffs, he said. “I wish there was some other way.”
That's an extremely generous return policy for an automaker, but then again every other manufacturer has dealers that let shoppers test drive a car before buying it.
The news was shared via Tesla's official Twitter account:
The $35,000 Tesla Model 3 is now a real thing.
In order preserve its profit margins, Tesla said that it's shifting all of its sales to online and closing "many" of its stores. But Tesla is also making it easier for people to return. Buyers will have 7 days or 1,000 miles during which they can return the car for a refund.
There's an office pool and everybody here at CNN Business is in. The only thing we can be sure of is that somebody will buy doughnuts for the newsroom tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
He said the news will come Thursday at 2 pm PT (5 pm ET).
It's not clear whether Musk will announce something newsworthy.