The Guardian:

Tesla is closing most of its stores in a cost-cutting measure, so it can lower the starting price of its Model 3 to $35,000.

Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of the electric car and technology company, said that a shift to selling online only was essential to make it financially viable to lower the current starting price of $42,900.

He said: “This is the only way to achieve the savings for this car and be financially sustainable. It is excruciatingly difficult to make this car for $35,000 and be financially sustainable.”

While I wouldn’t call this a disastrous move for Tesla, my wife and I went on a Tesla test drive this past summer and, while we’re not in the market for a new car, there’s no chance we’d buy one without being able to do a test drive.