It's pretty obvious what is going on here, and I doubt that Elon is not clued in, especially given McNeil's bonus plan. I expect a major upgrade to the interior for the S & X to be announced and available the first week of October. That means all of the existing inventory cars would have to be discounted at that time because of no longer being the latest/greatest. Instead, Tesla is discounting them now to drive Q3 sales. In Q4 they will have the spiffy new interior as a draw and discounts won't be necessary, except for any leftover old interior cars.
So with this upgrade Tesla is able to generate additional demand in both Q3 and Q4 - precisely what they need to do in order to have 2H17 deliveries exceed 1H17 deliveries as they guided a month ago.
Curious why many on this forum seem to think a 'major' interior update is on its way? Tesla has consistently gone the 'minor update' route for the past 2-3 yrs. This has provided the added advantage of continually refreshing the interior over time and ensuring that the market for the model S remains consistent and fresh.
From what I've seen, opinions by owners/forum members tend to differ from how the general public or non -Tesla owner seems to view the exterior/interior. Ie. just today I had 3 people come up to my vehicle at a car wash and for 25min all were extremely intrigued and wow'd by the ext and interior...namely the minimalist look and how futuristic the console looked. All of them were completely taken with the interior and how amazing the screen interface was, how simple and intuitive the design was, how well crafted the ergonomics were etc etc. I chuckled internally as I remember feeling the same prior to our purchase! What I'm implying here is that Tesla owners become quite accustomed to what they have and over time their opinions and desires to look for change with some of the 'faults' start to translate into comments like 'refresh needed..interior not good enough, we need more, lacking in this, that or the other '. However to put it into a larger context, non-Tesla owners still adore the model both in and out. They don't see the faults we do and are thus not demanding anything with respect to any major refresh...WE are! They just see the most technologically advanced vehicle ever produced wrapped in a beautiful package right out of the 22nd century! Which it truly is
Tesla knows this as well. They are marketing to new ice owners and trying to get the general public to come on board and adopt EV tech for the greater good of the world. In the eyes of those who don't own a Tesla or those who have recently purchased ...it is absolutely perfect as is. All I'm saying is that business decisions made by Tesla are not solely for the purpose of satisfying the needs of existing owners nor creating their design strategy based on those who are already convinced. They will take into account general consumer demand as well as competition within the industry. Ie. Chevy bolt, Nissan Leaf etc. For now until Lucid air, Faraday Future or even Merc, Volvo or any of the traditional auto companies provide a truly competitive model, Tesla's design is still top of the game in its class category.
I suspect we will see more minor updates as has been occurring every quarter or bi-yearly as this has worked thus far in keeping the interior constantly updated. Ie. door pockets, handles, maybe different trim, perhaps auto open/close as with model X.
As for Model 3, Model S and X may eventually start moving more towards a more luxurious version of the newer updated M3 design to keep all models coherent in style.
My 2 cents
