Musk tweets Tesla to end customer referral plan because of costs

File photo showing Elon Musk speaks at an event to announce the name of the person who would be the first private passenger on a trip around the moon, in Hawthorne, Calif. (AP)

LONDON: Tesla Inc’s customer referral incentive plan will end on February 1, the electric carmaker’s Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk tweeted on Thursday, citing costs.

The billionaire in the past few months has been pushing for cost-cutting initiatives to boost the company’s profitability.

Introduced in 2015, personal referral codes gave new buyers six months of free supercharging and prizes for existing owners such as launching personal photos into deep space or invites to a Tesla event.
Tesla operates its own stores but does not use franchised dealers or traditional advertising and marketing.