With a referred Tesla customer, the new buyer gets six months of free Supercharging, or nine months free if they skip a test drive and order a car without having driven one, according to Tesla’s website.

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The person making the referral benefits from a cumulative list of rewards, including launching a photo into space for one referral, a small Tesla Model S for kids or a special wall charger, and more as the referral count grows.

According to the follow up tweets, the program costs the company too much money, particularly for the profit-strained Model 3 that went into production in late 2017. Musk also said there were no plans for a new referral program.

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Supercharging was free to all new Tesla customers up until November of 2016, and the now-outgoing referral program was announced in May of 2017.

5th Gear: Lotus Goes to China

Geely, the Chinese company that now owns Lotus, is looking to not only push the tiny British sports car brand up market, it’s also hoping to dramatically increase sales volume up from sales of just 1,630 cars in 2018.

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That plan now involves a new production facility in Wuhan, China, which would be used for combined Geely and Lotus vehicle production, targeting the Chinese market with an upcoming Lotus SUV model, according to Reuters:

But in a major break with the past, two sources familiar with the matter said Lotus would likely make luxury SUVs instead of sports cars during the Wuhan plant’s initial phase.

One of the sources said Geely wanted to emulate premium carmakers like Porsche (PSHG_p.DE), whose luxury SUV models were selling well in China.

The share of luxury SUVs in China’s overall passenger car market grew from 4.07 percent in 2014 to 5.01 percent in 2018, according to data from consultancy J.D. Power.

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According to the report, Lotus will still have some manufacturing in its current home of Norfolk, England, alongside the planned $1.3 billion China plant. It won’t be fun sitting through all of the heads exploding at the concept of a Chinese Lotus SUV if it’s ever confirmed.

Reverse: The First Corvette Prototype Debuts

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Really makes you wonder if Chevrolet wanted to unveil the mid-engine Corvette on this anniversary this year before the alleged development delays. It would have been great timing!

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Neutral: Will Sedans Ever Hit Zero?

It really only seems like the stronger sedans have survived. The question now becomes, are they attractive enough to hold the light truck onslaught at bay, or will that five million car margin continue to slowly trickle down to nothing?