 "Tesla")
Tesla on Saturday slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistant software to $8,000 from $12,000 in the United States, as CEO Elon Musk reaffirms his commitment to self-driving technology.
Musk is betting the technology will become a major source of revenue for the world's most valuable automaker. But he has for years failed to achieve the goal of self-driving capability, with the technology under growing regulatory and legal scrutiny.
Earlier this month, Musk said Tesla will unveil its robotaxis on Aug. 8, after Reuters reported Tesla had scrapped its inexpensive, mass-market car in favour of robotaxis.
Tesla subsequently cut the U.S. monthly subscription price for the feature from $199 to $99.
In 2023, Musk said that the price of FSD, then priced at $15,000, was very low, saying that the value of the car would increase dramatically if it became autonomous.
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Tesla calls its driver assistant features Autopilot or FSD but says they do not make its vehicles autonomous and they require active driver supervision.
Tesla has also been cutting prices on its auto line-up in major markets.
Tesla has cut prices in a number of its major markets - including in China and Germany - after price cuts in the United States - as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for electric vehicles (EVs), especially against cheaper Chinese EVs.
The swathe of price cuts comes after Elon Musk's EV maker reported this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years.
Tesla cut the starting price of the revamped Model 3 in China by 14,000 yuan ($1,930) to 231,900 yuan ($32,000), its official website showed on Sunday.
In Germany, the carmaker trimmed the price of its Model 3 rear wheel drive to 40,990 euros ($43,670.75) from 42,990 euros, where the price has been since February.
There were also price cuts in many other countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, a Tesla spokesperson said.
The carmaker cut U.S. prices of its Model Y, Model X and Model S vehicles by $2,000 on Friday. On Saturday it slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving driver assistant software to $8,000 from $12,000 in the United States.
The EV maker has been slow to refresh its ageing models as high interest rates have sapped consumer appetite for big-ticket items, while rivals in China, the world's largest auto market, are rolling out cheaper models.
