Tesla on Saturday cut the U.S. price of its fully self-driving (FSD) driver assistance software from $12,000 to $8,000 as CEO Elon Musk reaffirmed its commitment to self-driving technology. .
Musk is betting that the technology will become a major source of revenue for the world’s most valuable automaker. But he has been unable to achieve his goal of self-driving capability for years, as regulations and legal scrutiny of self-driving technology have become more stringent.
Earlier this month, Musk said Tesla would unveil a robotaxi on August 8, after Reuters reported that the company was scrapping its cheap mass-market cars in favor of robotaxis.
Tesla has since lowered the U.S. monthly subscription price for this feature from $199 to $99.
Musk said in 2023 that the price of an FSD, at $15,000 at the time, was very low, and that the value of cars would increase dramatically once they became self-driving.
Tesla calls its driver assistance features Autopilot, or FSD, but says they do not make the vehicle self-driving and require active driver supervision.
Tesla is also lowering prices on its car lineup in key markets. Faced with declining electric vehicle sales and increasing price competition, Tesla has cut prices by nearly $2,000 across its entire lineup in China, following its U.S. price cuts.
The series of price cuts came after Tesla reported this month that global car deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years.
Tesla announced on its official website on Sunday that it has lowered the starting price of the updated Model 3 in China by $1,930 to $32,000.
In Germany, the automaker lowered the price of the rear-wheel-drive Model 3 to 40,990 euros ($43,670.75) from 42,990 euros since February.
A Tesla spokesperson said price cuts were also made in many other countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
