Elon Musk says Tesla will raise prices and slow down store closures

Tesla CEO Elon Musk told employees in an e-mail late Sunday night that the electric car maker would shift its sales plans yet again — raising prices by about 3 percent on most of its cars and keeping more stores open than it had previously planned.

In addition to the e-mail to all employees, Tesla also published a blog post Sunday night, conveying these details to shareholders and the general public.

Tesla caused controversy in recent weeks announcing it would shut its stores and shift worldwide sales to online only. The move was presented as a full embrace of e-commerce, and a cost-cutting measure that would enable Tesla to sell the base version of its electric sedan, the Model 3, at the long-awaited price of $35,000 finally.

Many Tesla sales employees were left wondering whether their stores — and jobs — would be among those immediately cut.

The internal e-mail Musk sent on Sunday may help calm those who remained at Tesla after lay-offs in January, and ongoing job cuts after that.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for further information, including which specific stores would be reopening.

(CNBC)