The electric vehicle market has slowed recently, and Ford is targeting the leading electric vehicle maker with special discounts to lure Tesla owners.
Ford’s new incentive, dubbed the Tesla Competitive Conquest Bonus, offers existing Tesla owners an extra $1,500 off the price of the new Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. Ford Power reported on Thursday.
Ford source confirms discount Yahoo Finance, which added that it also applies to the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV and is valid until July 8 for 2024 and 2023 models. In addition, Tesla owners do not need to sell their electric vehicles to receive money; they only need to prove ownership, the report says.
Ford told Business Insider The Conquest bonus launched on April 3rd. A Tesla representative did not immediately respond to Fortune request for comment.
Ford discount for Tesla owners recently appeared at the Michigan automaker cut prices on some F-150 Lightning trims, which has a starting price of just under $50,000. Meanwhile, the Mustang Mach-E starts at just under $40,000.
Of course, Ford didn’t just single out Tesla owners with its discounts. Ford previously said it was also targeting Chevy and Dodge owners and Jeep owners.
But the latest moves increase pricing pressure on the electric vehicle market, where Tesla has already made a wave of previous cuts, with consumer demand for electric vehicles generally declining in favor of hybrid models. Rivals such as China’s BYD have responded with cuts of their own.
Amid demand problems and growing competition, Tesla shares have fallen more than 30% since the start of the year, causing alarm on Wall Street – even among once staunch supporters.
Wedbush Securities tech analyst Dan Ives, who has been a Tesla supporter since he began covering the company in 2018, warned in a research note Thursday that Elon Musk and company are experiencing a “Category 5 demand storm” in the electric vehicle market.
He said Tesla is currently stuck between “two waves of growth”: the first driven by soaring sales of high-end electric vehicles, and the second expected to come from mass-market electric vehicles and robo-taxis. But despite that history, “patience among investors is starting to get very thin,” Ives said.
This happens after Reuters reported Last week, Tesla abandoned plans to create a mass-market electric car costing less than $30,000 called Model 2. Musk responded to this message in mail on X, simply stating that “Reuters is lying (again)” without providing any explanation.
Additionally, Bank of America analysts said in a research note Wednesday that demand issues and rising inventories mean Tesla could be forced to cut prices on its electric vehicle models again if it fails to enter a new market, which could lead to “growing profits.” pressure.”
“The introduction of a low-cost model (Model 2) is still a long way off (2026). As a result, pricing remains the main lever for stimulating demand (which, as we note, is not working very well so far),” they write.