Tesla shares close down 5% after price cuts, Model 3 refresh
A Tesla Model 3 vehicle on an auto carrier in front of a store in Rocklin, California, July 21, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Tesla shares dropped 5% Friday after the electric car company cut prices on some models in the U.S. and reduced the price for its premium driver assistance software.
The stock closed at $245.01. It’s still up almost 100% this year after gaining 2.7% for the week.
While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said in the past that the price of Tesla’s premium driver assistance option, marketed as Full Self-Driving software, would only ever go up, the company cut the price by $3,000 from $15,000 in the U.S. for customers who purchase it upfront rather than through a monthly subscription. Subscribers pay between $99 and $199 per month, depending on whether they’re upgrading from a standard or other premium version.
Tesla is also cutting prices for inventory vehicles in the U.S., including its entry-level Model 3 sedan, luxury Model S sedan and the Model X SUV. In China, Tesla is reducing the price of the Model S and Model X about 7%.
The FSD discount follows reports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is nearing completion of a years-long investigation into possible safety defects of Tesla’s driver assistance systems. The investigation began after a string of crashes into stationary first responder vehicles by Tesla drivers who were thought to be using driver assistance features.
The price cut for some Model X cars in the U.S. makes the SUV eligible for a $7,500 tax break for qualified buyers. However, the price cuts on Model S and X upset some prior customers in the U.S. and in China, who took to social media to complain that the lower price hurts the resale value of their cars and that they’re paying higher insurance costs because their car was more expensive.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s Model 3 refresh, officially revealed Friday, included controversial changes, such as a “stalkless” turn signal. Drivers of the redesigned Model 3 in China and the EU will need to touch a button on the steering wheel to indicate they’re about to change lanes or turn, and can use park, reverse, neutral and drive controls on the touchscreen in lieu of the left-side stalk. The base Model 3 refresh comes with an approximately 12% higher price tag in China compared to its predecessor.
Also known as the “highland,” the Model 3 refresh includes a longer-range battery. The Tesla China website says the higher-end version of the Model 3 refresh can travel up to 713 km (443 miles) on a single charge and the base model can travel 606 km (377 miles). The new Model 3 variant also features several design changes, including a touchscreen that allows passengers in the back to adjust comfort settings and entertainment, along with tweaks to the vehicle’s exterior design, with new colors available.
Due to its pricing, analysts at Bank of America wrote in a note, “We think the impact of the new Model 3 debut on Chinese EV peers should be manageable considering the sedan’s entry price is much high than consumers’ expectation.”
The analysts said the Model 3’s peers in China include XPeng’s P7, BYD’s Han and Seal and Leapmotor’s C01 electric cars.
Considering the increased starting price, initial sales volume for the Model 3 refresh in China may not be as high as previously expected, they said. Still, the analysts remain positive on the outlook for the vehicle’s sales this quarter as consumers have been waiting for the upgrade.
Also this week, Tesla faced reports of new federal probes into the company by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a Manhattan federal prosecutor about whether it had deliberately misled consumers with its prior EV battery range claims, and improperly used resources to benefit Musk personally.
Regarding the use of company resources, Musk on Friday denied reports that Tesla had plans to build him a “glass house” near Austin, Texas.
Correction: The Model 3 refresh has a haptic turn signal button on the “stalkless” steering wheel and other controls on the touchscreen.
Paradromics scientists at work
Source: Paradromics
Texas-based neurotech startup Paradromics on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Neom and said it will establish a Brain-Computer Interface Center of Excellence in the region.
Neom is a developing area within northwest Saudi Arabia that’s touted as “a hub for innovation,” according to its website. The area’s strategic investment arm, the Neom Investment Fund, led the partnership. Paradromics declined to disclose the investment amount.
Paradromics is building a brain-computer interface, or a BCI, which is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. The company will work with Neom to “advance the development of BCI-based therapies” and set up the “premier center for BCI-based healthcare” in the Middle East and North Africa, it said in a release.
“Working together, we can accelerate the rate of innovation in BCI and expand access to impactful BCI-based therapies.” Paradromics CEO Matt Angle said in a statement.
Paradromics is one of several companies racing to commercialize BCIs, including Elon Musk’s startup Neuralink. Earlier this month, Neuralink announced it has implanted three human patients with its technology, according to a blog post. Precision Neuroscience and Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates-backed Synchron have also implanted their systems in humans.
None of these companies have secured the FDA’s final stamp of approval.
Paradromics’ BCI, the Connexus Direct Data Interface, is an array of tiny electrodes designed to be implanted directly into the brain tissue. The system could eventually help patients with severe paralysis regain their ability to communicate by deciphering their neural signals.
The company is gearing up to launch its first human trial this year, and announced its official patient registry in July. Paradromics’ technology has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it still has a long way to go before commercialization. In 2023, the company received the FDA’s Breakthrough Device designation, which aims to help accelerate the go-to-market process.
Watch: Inside Paradromics, the Neuralink competitor hoping to commercialize brain implants before the end of the decade
Mark Lenhard, CEO of U.K.-based remittances platform Zepz.
Lukas Schulze | Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images
LONDON — British digital remittances company Zepz is laying off dozens of IT workers and is in the process of closing down business units in Poland and Kenya.
Roughly 200 staff members will be impacted by the redundancy measures, two employees who were made redundant told CNBC, asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter.
As of January, London-headquartered Zepz — formerly known as WorldRemit — had a global headcount of 1,000 people, meaning the redundancies affect around 20% of its total workforce.
The layoffs affect several IT functions at the company, including database administration, development operations and software engineering, the former employees said.
Zepz confirmed to CNBC that it was reducing headcount in order to “sustainably support the next phase of long-term strategic goals and continued growth.” The company declined to comment on the number of employees impacted by the layoffs, with a spokesperson explaining that the redundancy process was ongoing.
“Following the successful completion of its replatforming efforts, bolstered by advanced automation and AI, Zepz has embarked on a strategic initiative to optimise operations across the organisation,” a Zepz spokesperson told CNBC by email.
“This transformation has reinforced the technology foundation and reduced the need for certain operational and technical capacities, prompting a proposed reduction in roles as part of the overall plan,” the spokesperson added.
Zepz has been touted as one of Britain’s fintech darlings. The company was founded by Ismail Ahmed, a Somalia-born British entrepreneur who fled the country during the Somali Civil War. Ahmed today serves as the company’s non-executive chairman.
The group was renamed Zepz following the acquisition of money transfer platform Sendwave in 2020, with the brand and WorldRemit coming under one parent company.
‘Difficult choice’
CNBC obtained a company memo announcing the cost-cutting measures shared by Zepz CEO Mark Lenhard internally in January.
“Today we are announcing a very difficult decision — proposed reductions in our team across all HQ functions, and most regions. And specifically we are proposing the closure of our Kenya and Poland employing entities,” Lenhard said in the memo.
Zepz touts itself as a “remote-first employer,” with regional offices in Kenya and Poland.
“This is a difficult choice, which impacts the lives of our colleagues and friends. This is also a choice which is critical to the success of our mission to serve immigrants everywhere. Both facts are true, at the same time,” Lenhard said.
“To be clear, this is not a change of strategy. We’re doubling down on our mission in an effort to expand our impact faster,” he added. “In some places, this will mean we’ll need to continue to ruthlessly prioritize. In others, we’re going to get more efficient. In many cases it will involve rethinking how we do things today.”
Zepz’s spokesperson insisted that the IT worker layoffs “will not impact customers in any region or market,” and added that the firm “remains committed to its mission of serving migrants worldwide, driving innovation, and delivering meaningful financial solutions to millions globally.”
This isn’t the first time Zepz has cut a spate of roles to save on costs. In 2023, Zepz laid off 420 employees, which accounted for about 26% of its global headcount at the time. Later that year, Zepz slashed a further 30 roles across its people and marketing functions.
Zepz has long been touted as a potential IPO candidate, but a timeline for this is unclear. Counting the likes of Accel, TCV and Leapfrog as investors, the startup was valued at $5 billion in 2021. The company announced a $267 million funding round last year.
Zepz faces competition from several notable digital payments players including PayPal, Wise, Revolut and Remitly.
WATCH: We now have ‘a whole generation’ of fintechs preparing for IPOs, says QED Investors’ Nigel Morris
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports10 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway