Tesla to charge more for cars in United States as inflation bites - Reuters

June 16 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) again raised prices for all its car models in the United States in response to persistent global supply-chain problems and soaring raw material costs.

The electric carmaker increased its Model Y long-range price to $65,990 from $62,990, its website showed on Thursday, after delaying the deliveries of some long-range models in the United States by up to a month.

The 5% price hike comes as costs of raw materials of everything from aluminum to lithium used in cars and batteries surge, while automakers struggle to source chips and other supplies due to an industry-wide shortage.

Credit Suisse said the price hike represents in some cases the fourth one in the United States in 2022. "While some concerned price hikes will destroy demand, for now Tesla remains supply constrained," the brokerage said.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has previously said that lithium is responsible for cost increases and "a limiting factor" to EV growth, encouraging carmakers to get into the lithium business.

Model Y cars are pictured during the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Patrick Pleul/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Rival Rivian Automotive Inc (RIVN.O) has also raised price by more than $10,000 for new orders of its base model.

Several automakers are expected to deliver electric cars to customers for the first time in their race to catch up with Tesla amid growing demand.

Musk has warned about the risk of a recession in recent weeks. He had earlier this month said that he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy and that Tesla needed to cut 10% of jobs. read more

The world's richest person, who is in the process of buying Twitter Inc for $44 billion, is expected to address the social media company's employees later on Thursday.

Shares of Tesla were down about 4% in premarket trading, tracking wider losses across markets.

Reporting by Nivedita Balu and Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Arun Koyyur

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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