In a recent email to employees, Mr. Musk said 78 percent of Model 3 orders were already placed online. Buyers can get full refunds if they return cars within seven days and have driven them less than 1,000 miles.

Tesla has been in retreat in recent months, scrambling to shore up flagging investor confidence. Along with layoffs of 7 percent of its work force in January, the news of store closings appeared to underline the challenges for a newcomer breaking into an old-line manufacturing industry. The company has struggled to make a few thousand cars in a week — a feat that established automakers can do in a day.

Asked to elaborate on the company’s latest moves, a Tesla spokesman declined to comment.

The weeks of tension have taken a toll on Tesla shares. On Monday they rose 2.4 percent, closing at $290.92, but they are down 9 percent since Mr. Musk said the company would be unprofitable in the first quarter.

The twists on the marketing front have coincided with renewed upheaval surrounding Mr. Musk himself.

Less than a month ago, Tesla’s general counsel quit a day after Mr. Musk said on Twitter that the company expected to sell 500,000 cars this year, an increase of 100,000 from the estimate it made public in January.

The Securities and Exchange Commission contended that the tweet violated an agreement it had reached with Tesla in September to settle a securities-fraud case, and it asked a federal court to hold Mr. Musk in contempt. Under the settlement, the company was to “put in place additional controls and procedures” to oversee Mr. Musk’s communications.

In a response filed with the court on Monday, Mr. Musk’s lawyers argued that there were no grounds for a contempt citation. They said that the Tesla chief “correctly used his discretion” to determine that nothing in his Twitter post was material and that “under no fair reading of the materiality standard” did the post alter the information available to investors.