EV giant Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) on Friday increased the starting price of its Model S premium sedan in the U.S. by a whopping $5000 to $79,990, the same starting price as the Model X SUV.

What Happened: The company hiked the starting price of both the All-Wheel drive variant and the Plaid version of the Model S by $5000 on its website, bringing price parity between it and the respective variants of the Model X premium SUV.

The Model X also starts at $79,990 for the All-Wheel Drive variant and at $94,990 for the Plaid variant.

The last time Tesla hiked the price of Model S variants was in July.

Why It Matters: Until the start of Cybertruck deliveries in late November last year, the Model S and Model X were Tesla's only premium offerings.

According to data from automotive research company Kelley Blue Book, Tesla sold 16,692 Cybertrucks in the third quarter in the U.S., trumping EV trucks from rivals including the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Rivian R1T, to become the third-best-selling EV behind Model Y and Model 3.

However, the surge in sales of the Cybertruck negatively impacted the Model S and X. According to KBB estimates, Model S sales in the U.S. fell by about 47% year-on-year in the U.S. in the last quarter while Model X sales slipped by 29%.

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