Tesla CEO Elon Musk accused Reuters of "lying" on Friday after the outlet reported the electric vehicle behemoth is abandoning its long-touted plans to produce a budget-friendly starter car. Citing three unnamed "sources familiar," Reuters reported that Tesla has scrapped its initiative to roll out an inexpensive car for the masses, purportedly called Model 2, that was expected to start at $25,000.
Musk has teased for years that a lower-cost Tesla model would be coming, and has slashed costs on existing models over the past year amid a global price war for EVs as the industry competes to attract more budget-conscious consumers amid elevated interest rates. The price-cutting wars are particularly pronounced in the Chinese EV market, where Tesla has a major presence and domestic manufacturers are rolling out models that retail for as low as $10,000, per Reuters.