Tesla warms up for the October 7th press conference, which may unveil an affordable new model

Tesla is hinting at an important product launch, with the market widely expecting it to be related to its highly anticipated affordable electric vehicle.

On the 6th, the automaker led by Musk released a nine-second video on the social media platform X, showing a car illuminating its headlights in the dark. At the end of another video, the words "10/7" appeared, directly pointing to an event on October 7th (Tuesday).

The timing of this pre-launch is particularly critical. Just a few days earlier, on September 30th, the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles in the U.S. had just expired. This change could profoundly affect consumer car-buying choices and compel Tesla to readjust its pricing strategy to cope with potential demand slowdown.

Prior to this, Tesla had just announced record quarterly delivery numbers for the period ending in September, primarily driven by consumers rushing to purchase vehicles before the tax credit expired. How to maintain growth after losing policy incentives has become a core issue that Tesla urgently needs to prove to the market, and a more competitively priced model is seen as a key answer.

Details of the Affordable Model Emerge

Although Tesla has remained tight-lipped about the new model, earlier reports from media citing informed sources indicate that the highly anticipated affordable model is a "streamlined version" of a car, with production costs expected to be about 20% lower than the new Model Y. Reports suggest that this model is designed to expand market coverage.

Previously, Tesla had delayed the timeline for launching the low-cost version of the Model Y in the U.S. The company stated in June that it had completed the "first batch of trial production" for the model but planned to start sales in the fourth quarter, with production ramp-up expected to be slower than originally planned. According to insiders, the annual production of this affordable model in the U.S. is expected to expand to about 250,000 units by 2026.

The urgency for Tesla to launch an affordable model is closely related to the end of the U.S. electric vehicle tax credit policy. This policy provided a $7,500 federal tax credit for each qualifying electric vehicle, serving as an important tool to stimulate demand in the U.S. electric vehicle market.

It was the expiration of this policy that drove Tesla to achieve record high delivery numbers for the third quarter ending in September, as many potential buyers placed orders early to secure the subsidy. Now, with the incentives gone, Tesla needs new catalysts to attract price-sensitive consumers to maintain its record sales momentum. Analysts and investors are closely watching how Tesla will respond to this challenge through new products and pricing strategies