Down about 40% over 6mo or over a year is an interesting definition of recovery... Yes, it's def improved in the last few weeks, but this is a bit of a stretch. Might bear out that way over time, might not, but certainly not enough data to make any conclusions at this point.
The more interesting question is the long term futures of Tesla and the other manufacturers. Tesla had a pretty smart pricing and lack of dealership strategy, in that it was fixed price, no haggling, no discounts etc... If they had maintained a more reasonable price through the pandemic crunch time and not yoyo'd price to demand, that would have maintained an image of quality and value in the minds of consumers (at a short term significant opportunity cost, of course). Jacking the price way up when you could was very profitable in the short run, reflected in the stock price etc. The huge price drop does incite short term demand, but in the long term the brand image, the perception of value and quality, is greatly damaged by such a move. There are many other factors that play into this when you take a deeper dive into marketing principles, and I think the long term results of these huge price variations will be far more detrimental to Tesla than the short term benefits have been/will be here for the next little while. But I guess we will see...
It's kind of a shame (in theory, not to me personally as one who dislikes Tesla), as I think Tesla was on track to show that there could actually be a long term model based on little/no advertising etc for a large company like this. I think they killed any chance of that with the big price drop (problem started with the crazy price hikes, but the felt effect from the consumer will be more a result of the drop). The brand will lose a large portion of it's consumer confidence and percieved value.
Doubt this will be the most pertinent example on a car enthusiast forum, but I'll try it. I'm a woodworker, and in that world there's another German brand called Festool that is very highly regarded. They have, for a very long time, fixed their prices and all retailers must sell them at full retail, or they'll be pulled as suppliers. They are quite expensive tools, and those of us who like them understand that they cost what they cost, always. Once a year the prices go up, so buy before then to avoid paying more, but that's your only option if you want new. They have strictly maintained this, and those willing to pay a premium for a premium tool will pay it without question if they want that tool enough. There's no price shopping other vendors, no conjecture if there might be a sale next month, no feeling ripped off because the price dropped a month after you bought... The perception of quality and value (though expensive) is steadfast. They never have a sale cannibalizing many full price orders that would have happened anyway at a later date. People don't wait to buy hoping for a sale, and maybe get lured into a sale product in the meantime... They buy now if they really want it and can afford to. Their entire image would change if they played price games. Probably would have great windfall moments, but the long run would be much more volatile and most likely much less profitable. Once you start that game, it's hard to win it against many other players trying to do the race to the bottom. Especially when you have a more premium offering, not an economy grade one.
They do some non traditional marketing as well... I'm convinced that only extremely niche products can survive in the long run without marketing. Tesla was more niche, now becoming more mainstream. That lack of marketing worked before, but it's going to bite them for a long time to come as they're no longer the early to market niche item.
I could go on and on about business/marketing strategy, but the point to this thread is, if VW is smart they won't engage in price wars. They will fix their Achilles heel of software problems, take input from everyone here etc on improvements, and market their great (now even greater with the fixes and improvements) car for what it is. It will be harder in the short run, but they have deep enough pockets to play the longer game and sell their quality and value, rather than jump into the race to the bottom. They can't ever compete that race unless they start massively cheapening out their vehicles, which is no win for us the consumer either.
