Tesla Stages End-of-Quarter Sales Blitz

Tesla Inc. is rolling out sales incentives and a bevy of owner-volunteers to work at delivery centers to help bolster third-quarter sales, Bloomberg News reports.

Much of the focus is on the Model 3 electric sedan Tesla launched a year ago and which has struggled with production and distribution problems since then. The company delivered 18,000 Model 3s in April-June and is expected to reach about 52,000 units in the current quarter.

Tesla also is trying to hike weekly output of Model 3s to a consistent 6,000 units. The company built 5,000 of the cars in the last week of June with the help of an extra assembly line set up in a tent outside its main plant.

Hiking Model 3 sales is critical to CEO Elon Musk’s vow to achieve a positive cash flow and sustainable profit in the second half of the year. Tesla’s first-half net loss attributable to shareholders doubled to $1.4 billion.

Bloomberg says Tesla’s incentives this week include a discount of $3,000 on certain Model S cars, immediate delivery on a small number of rear-drive Model 3 display cars and the ability of current customers to grant free quick-charge service to new buyers of any Tesla model.

Earlier this month Tesla invited Model 3 buyers in the San Francisco area to pick up their cars at the company’s Fremont, Calif., factory rather than wait for local delivery. Musk says the company also is building its own car carrier trailers to help ease distribution bottlenecks.