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By Akash Sriram (Reuters) -Tesla teased an October 7 event, in which investors and analysts anticipate the unveiling of a more affordable vehicle to counter falling sales, sending the shares of the Elon Musk-led electric automaker more than 5% higher on Monday. In a nine-second video posted on social media platform X on Sunday, Tesla showed a vehicle with its headlights illuminated in a dark setting, while hinting at an event set for Tuesday in a separate video that had "10/7" at the end. The teaser follows Tesla's record third-quarter deliveries, driven by a surge in EV purchases ahead of the expiration of the $7,500 U.S. EV tax credit on September 30.  However, analysts expect Tesla's annual deliveries to fall for a second straight year to about 1.62 million vehicles, as expiring incentives and a demand slowdown linked to CEO Musk's polarizing politics weigh on sales. Tesla has previously delayed rolling out a lower-cost version of the Model Y in the U.S. It said in June it had made "first builds" of the vehicle, but would start selling it in the fourth quarter and ramp up output at a pace that would be slower than planned. The stripped-down version is designed to be roughly 20% cheaper to produce than the refreshed Model Y and could scale to about 250,000 units a year in the U.S. by 2026. Tesla has not revealed details of how it plans to cut costs. Analysts have said reducing the size of the battery, changing to cloth seats from leather and removing some audio speakers, the glass roof and the rear touchscreen would be key to Tesla trimming costs. The scale of the cost cut is crucial for Tesla's already squeezed margins and will be closely watched. Wall Street expects Tesla's deliveries to jump next year to 1.85 million vehicles, with the cheaper model accounting for 155,610 units in 2026, according to Visible Alpha estimates. "Tesla is teasing something big as a flurry of X posts has fans bracing for what looks like the launch of a more affordable Model Y tomorrow," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, who personally owns Tesla shares. "The price tag will be the real tell, offering clues on how far Tesla has pushed cost savings and how much new demand it can unlock." The company has not introduced a new mass-market vehicle in years, relying heavily on incremental updates to the Model 3 and Model Y to drive sales. Sales of its last major launch, the Cybertruck, have struggled, with Tesla offering thousands of dollars in discounts for vehicles in inventory in the past few months.  A U.S. recall filing in March showed 46,096 Cybertrucks had been built between its introduction in November 2023 and early this year. (Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Arun Koyyur)

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(Reuters) -Lucid reported a 46.6% jump in third-quarter deliveries on Monday, driven by a rush of demand for electric vehicles before lucrative tax credits expired last week, but it still missed Wall Street expectations. The EV maker and its rivals are bracing for a sharp drop in sales in the last three months of the year without the $7,500 in credits. While some have cut prices and found mechanisms to extend the benefits of the credit, others have cut production plans in anticipation of a slump. Lucid lowered its annual production forecast in August and now expects to make between 18,000 and 20,000 vehicles this year. Five analysts are expecting the company to produce about 17,800 vehicles on average, according to Visible Alpha. The EV industry has already been grappling with high tariffs on imports of vehicles and auto parts into the U.S. While Lucid makes its vehicles in the U.S., it imports some parts from abroad. Lucid vehicles did not qualify for the tax credits on cash purchases, but it used the credits to offer attractive leases. Lucid handed over 4,078 vehicles in the quarter, compared with estimates of 4,286 deliveries seven analysts, on average, were expecting, according to Visible Alpha. This compares with 2,781 vehicles delivered a year ago. EV giant Tesla posted record quarterly deliveries on Thursday, while Rivian also beat sales estimates as consumers rushed to buy EVs ahead of the incentive's September 30 deadline. The company has put in place offers and discounts to boost the appeal of its luxury Air sedans to attract consumers who have pared back big-budget spending because of high interest rates. The EV maker has been aggressively striking deals with North American companies to domestically source critical minerals used in manufacturing. The company's fortunes rely heavily on the success of its newly launched Gravity SUV and the upcoming mid-size car, which targets a $50,000 price point, as the company looks to expand its consumer base.   (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala, Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Leroy Leo and Alan Barona)

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By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said Monday that all medium- and heavy-duty trucks imported into the United States will face a 25% tariff rate starting November 1, a significant escalation of his effort to protect U.S. companies from foreign competition. Trump last month had said heavy truck imports would face new duties on Oct. 1 on national security grounds, saying the new tariffs were to protect manufacturers from "unfair outside competition" and that the move would benefit companies such as Paccar-owned Peterbilt and Kenworth and Daimler Truck-owned Freightliner. Under trade deals reached with Japan and the European Union, the United States has agreed to 15% tariffs on light-duty vehicles but it is not clear if they will face that rate for larger vehicles. The Trump administration has also allowed producers to deduct the value of U.S. components from tariffs paid on light-duty vehicles assembled in Canada and Mexico. Larger vehicles include everything from delivery trucks, garbage trucks, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, and school buses and tractor-trailer trucks as well as semi-trucks and heavy-duty vocational vehicles. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce earlier urged the Commerce Department not to impose new truck tariffs, noting the top five import sources are Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany, and Finland "all of which are allies or close partners of the United States posing no threat to U.S. national security." Mexico is the largest exporter of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to the United States. A study released in January said imports of those larger vehicles from Mexico have tripled since 2019 to around 340,000 today, according to government statistics. Under the North American free trade deal USMCA, medium- and heavy-duty trucks move tariffs free if at least 64% of a heavy truck's value originates in North America, via parts like engines and axles, raw materials such as steel, or assembly labor. Tariffs could also affect Chrysler-parent Stellantis which produces heavy-duty Ram trucks and commercial vans in Mexico. Stellantis had been lobbying the White House not to impose steep tariffs on its Mexican-made trucks. Sweden's Volvo Group is building a $700 million heavy-truck factory in Monterrey, Mexico, due to start operations in 2026.  Mexico is home to 14 manufacturers and assemblers of buses, trucks, and tractor trucks, and two manufacturers of engines, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. Mexico opposed new tariffs, telling the Commerce Department in May that all Mexican trucks exported to the United States have on average 50% U.S. content, including diesel engines. Last year, the United States imported almost $128 billion in heavy vehicle parts from Mexico, accounting for approximately 28% of total U.S. imports, Mexico said. (Reporting by David Shepardson, Christian Martinez and Susan Heavey; editing by Costas Pitas and Chizu Nomiyama )

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