Tesla hikes prices of models sold in UK due to currency fluctuations

Electric carmaker Tesla Motors said the decision to push up the price of models sold in the UK was due to ''currency fluctuations."

The firm's UK showrooms were informed of the decision earlier this week and staff had been contacting prospective customers to warn them about the imminent price hikes.

One email, which, The Guardian claimed to have seen stated, ''We have just received some information that we need to share with you – due to currency fluctuations we will be increasing our UK prices for custom orders by 5 per cent on 1 January 2017.''

It added, ''Prices on showroom and pre-owned cars will remain fixed at current prices.''

In the six months since the Brexit vote, retailers and manufacturers had signalled the weakness of the pound sterling would see prices rise in 2017, as the cost of importing goods increased. The pound had lost over 15 per cent of its value against the dollar since the Brexit vote.

Fashion retailer Next had said its clothing prices would increase by up to 5 per cent while electrical goods retailers Dixons Carphone and AO had also said their suppliers wanted to charge more. Apple had hiked the price of every computer in its range, and Microsoft and Dell had also signaled that price hikes were on the way.

Other US firms including Vauxhall cars owner GM had acted to offset the drop in the pound with a 2.5 per cent mark-up in October in an attempt to compensate for losses. 

Microsoft warned the same month that it would hike prices for UK businesses in the new year to the extent of 22 per cent to "realign close to euro levels" and harmonise  prices across the EU.

While consumer products would remain unaffected by the increase, enterprise software prices would rise by 13 per cent, and cloud prices would jump by as much as 22 per cent for clients paying in pounds.