Tesla clips price of Model Y sport utility vehicle, stock ascent continues

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has dropped the price of its Model Y sport utility vehicle just four months following its launch as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to drag on sector-wide auto sales. Model Y pricing now starts at US$49,990, down 6% from US$52,990. Previously, in May, the price of the Model 3, Model X and Model S vehicles were also reduced. READ: Tesla becomes the world's most valuable car company Elon Musk’s car company earlier in July reported a decline in car deliveries, albeit the drop was better than feared by the market and suggested a more robust performance among Telsa’s new breed of electric cars compared to petroleum driven rivals. Model Ys began rolling out in March and by April Tesla told investors that the car was profitable. Tesla’s shares on Friday performed strongly, rising around 10%, which in turn helped Elon Musk mark notable headlines as it meant his wealth surpassed exalted value investor Warren Buffet and become the seventh richest person in the world (according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index). Just over a week previously, Telsa was ranked as the world's most valuable car company as its second quarter results bolstered its Nasdaq listed stock. The car maker revealed that it had delivered nearly 90,650 vehicles in the quarter. It beat Wall Street expectations of around 74,100. At that time, the California-based company had a market capitalisation of US$208bn – and, after Friday’s close, this was marked at US$286bn.