Tesla cuts US prices of Model 3, Model Y cars

(Reuters) -Elon Musk-led Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) cut prices of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in the U.S. by about 2.7% to 4.2%, the electric vehicle (EV) maker's website showed on Thursday, about a month after it slashed prices for its premium Model S and Model X cars.

Tesla has been cutting prices aggressively this year to counter the effect of a slowing EV market, while fending off competition from upstarts and legacy players.

The Model 3 sedan is cheaper by $1,250 to $38,990, while prices of the Model Y long-range variant were cut by $2,000 to $48,490, the car company's website showed.

Prices for the standard Model 3 have come down by about 17% since the beginning of the year while the Model Y long-range variant has seen a drop of over 26%.

The price drops for the Model 3 also come as deliveries of its refreshed and higher-priced standard version is expected to start in the fourth quarter.

The carmaker missed market estimates for third-quarter deliveries earlier this week after planned upgrades at its factories to roll out the newer version of the Model 3 mass-market sedan forced production halts.

Tesla on Thursday also cut prices for its higher-priced variants of Model Y and Model 3.

The price for the base Model Y rear-wheel drive, which Tesla reintroduced earlier this week, remained the same at $43,990.

Prices for the premium Model S and Model X did not change on Thursday.