The automaker also announced an arrangement with U.S. Bank to begin offering Tesla leases for less than the company itself currently provides. Mr. Musk estimated the leases through U.S. Bank could be up to 25 percent cheaper, because of the bank’s lower cost of capital.

Currently, Tesla offers leases on the Model S that start at around $800 a month, and top out at close to $1,300 a month for the highest-performance model. The down payments to achieve those rates range from about $6,500 to $7,000.

Alexis Georgeson, a spokeswoman for Tesla, said the new lease deal was something the company had been “working on for quite a while,” and was not a response to the company’s sales performance, which Ms. Georgeson said continued to be favorable.

“Demand remains extremely strong for the cars,” she said.

She declined to provide detailed sales figures, citing Tesla’s policy of not releasing monthly sales numbers, but said the company planned to provide updated information on total deliveries in conjunction with its earnings announcement next week.

Tesla will announce its third-quarter earnings on Nov. 5, after the markets close.

Because Tesla, based in Palo Alto, Calif., does not reveal detailed sales data to the extent that other automakers do, estimates calculated by industry-tracking firms can vary. According to Autodata Corporation, Tesla’s September sales were down 15 percent compared to the previous year, with year-to-date sales dropping 3 percent. Wards Auto estimated that Tesla’s September sales were down 11 percent, with year-to-date sales down 26 percent.