(Reuters)

Tesla Inc launched a cheaper variant of the Model Y, bringing its sports utility vehicle’s price closer to that of its Model 3 sedan, the electric-car maker’s least expensive car.

The new standard range Model Y is priced at US$41,990, only US$4,000 more than the entry level Model 3, according to the company’s website.

Shares of the carmaker, which have surged more than 700 per cent in 2020, were up nearly five per cent at US$853.89 in trading before the bell on Friday.

TESLA FIFTH-MOST-VALUABLE COMPANY ON WALL STREET

Tesla’s stratospheric rally has helped Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk surpass Amazon.com Inc’s top boss Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest man, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

Shares in the company jumped nearly eight per cent to end Thursday’s session at US$816.04, putting its market capitalisation at US$774 billion and making it Wall Street’s fifth-most-valuable company, just behind Google-parent Alphabet Inc and ahead of social media giant Facebook Inc.

Tesla’s new Model Y variants come days after the carmaker beat Wall Street targets for 2020 vehicle deliveries, driven by a steady rise in electric vehicle adoption, but narrowly missed its ambitious full-year target of half a million deliveries.