Tesla hikes China, US prices for second time within a week

TeslaInc hikedpricesinChinaand the United States on Tuesday for its second increase in less than a week, after founder Elon Musk said the USmaker of electric cars faced significant inflation pressure.

The increases come as costs of raw materials surge, worsened by a crisis over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Musk saying on Sunday that the carmaker and rocket company Space X faced pressure in areas such as raw materials and logistics.

The company raisedpricesfor all its models in the United States, its website showed. InChina, it raisedpricesofsomeChina-madeModel 3 and Model Y products by about 5 per cent, soon after a hike on March 10.

Tesladeclined to comment.

After the increases inChina, the Model Y Long-Range vehicle costs 375,900 yuan ($58,952.68), up 18,000 yuan from March 10, when its price went up by 10,000 yuan.

The price tag of the Model 3 Performance unit was 367,900 yuan after Tuesday's increase of 18,000 yuan, which followed an increase of 10,000 yuan five days ago.

A day earlier,Elon Musk has said that Tesla and SpaceX are facing inflation pressure in raw materials and logistics.

The South Africa-born mogul asked about his followers' thoughts on inflation in a tweet, saying ''we are not alone.''

Watch |Russian economy to pay the price of Ukraine invasion

Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX, also retweeted an article saying the Ukraine-Russia conflict sent commodity prices to their highest levels since 2008.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions, which include a US ban on Russian oil imports, are raising prices of energy and other key commodities like wheat, fertilisers, and metals to surge.

(With inputs from agencies)