Europe’s biggest software company stops offering Teslas to employees

Agatha Cantrill, Bloomberg News

SAP SE will stop offering Tesla Inc. vehicles to its employees after the manufacturer’s repeated price cuts, setting back Elon Musk’s efforts to grow in the company-car market.

Tesla’s prices are fluctuating more than other manufacturers’, complicating planning and increasing risks, SAP’s fleet manager told the German newspaper Handelsblatt.

An SAP spokesperson confirmed the comments Monday and said the company had never offered Teslas to employees in Germany, its biggest market for company cars. The brand made up a small portion of the company’s global fleet.

SAP is joining rental-car firms Hertz Global Holdings Inc. and Sixt SE in pulling back from Tesla purchases in the wake of Musk slashing prices across the lineup in pursuit of sales growth. That’s hurt the resale value of used Teslas and burned rental companies and other fleet owners who count depreciation among their biggest risks to manage.