Tesla has a money problem.
Why not raise their prices?
Say they would raise the average price of Model 3 from $55k to $60k. How low would demand go? 75% of what it is now? 50%? And how would it impact the bottom line? I would assume it would look great. A probably super thin margin would turn into a solid 10% margin.
What am I missing?
Does any adult human actually believe this? The guy has a personal carbon footprint bigger than 99.99999% of people on earth. He just negotiated the biggest pay package ever, tied to market cap. He's being investigated by the SEC for stock manipulation. But it's all because he loves the environment. The mystique behind this guy is unfathomable.
Tesla doesn't raise prices because it would harm already waning demand for their vehicles. The fact is, very few $60k+ sedans are sold around the globe, and it's a competitive space. At that price range, people have high expectations for luxury and build quality. The Model 3 gets points for being technologically advanced, but many buyers in this price range aren't interested in being beta-testers.
Model 3 was supposed to be cheaper, $35K, but they are concentrating on assembling the expensive versions first, which makes sense. They do need money to build more production lines. Unless a comparable competitor shows up, he will have customers for many years to come.
My guess is that, as with so many Silicon Valley ventures, their value is mainly determined by the amount of hype, ie. number of people who want Teslas, regardless of whether they will ever be able to produce enough to meet that demand. If they go for break-even between supply and demand they'll probably make more money, but they'll be worthless. It's perverse, but I think that's the reality they'll be facing.
They don't want to overtly raise the base price because of the optics.
Demand is already falling at 35k levels according to whatever articles you read out there
It's really hard to quantify this stuff. We only have audited numbers about units built not units sold, currently.