What will Tesla build next: a cheap electric car or a self-driving robotaxi? Company boss Musk seems to be putting everything on the robotaxi card. Quarterly figures could provide more clarity.
Tesla posted its first sales decline in nearly four years last quarter. Revenues fell by nine percent year-on-year to $21.3 billion (19.9 billion euros), as the electric car pioneer announced after the US stock market closed.
Analysts on average had expected sales of $22.15 billion. Tesla’s earnings per share were also below market expectations. The bottom line is that quarterly profits fell by 55 percent to 1.13 billion dollars (1.06 billion euros).
The decline in business figures became apparent after Tesla missed expectations in the first quarter with deliveries of around 387,000 vehicles. It was 8.5 percent less than in the same quarter of the previous year – and a slump of 20 percent compared to the last quarter of 2023. Tesla points out, among other things, that production at the Grünheide plant near Berlin was temporarily suspended in the first quarter after an attack on the power supply .
Cheaper models on the horizon
Tesla initially did not provide a specific forecast for deliveries for the current year, but expects a noticeable decline compared to 2023. The share price temporarily rose by more than seven percent in after-hours trading. The price had fallen by more than 40 percent since the beginning of the year.
When presenting its quarterly figures, Tesla confirmed that new models would go into production in the second half of 2025 – including cheaper vehicles. Recently, according to media reports, there were doubts as to whether Tesla would stick to a cheaper model that had been announced for years. Musk recently announced the launch of a robotaxis on August 8th, but did not mention the cheaper model for human drivers.
After rapid growth in recent years, Tesla is encountering weaker demand and growing competition, especially from China. Company boss Elon Musk is cutting more than one in ten jobs. Over the weekend, Tesla again reduced the prices for some model variants.
Musk: Tesla only “between two waves of growth”
The past few weeks have been turbulent for Tesla. After the decline in deliveries, Musk announced the reduction of more than one in ten jobs. This means that at least 14,000 jobs will be lost – according to media reports, it could also be around 20,000. A recall of the new “Cybertruck” pickup truck revealed that just under 4,000 vehicles of the model were built from November to April. Over the weekend, Tesla once again lowered the prices for some variants of its models.
A few months ago, Musk insisted that Tesla was only “between two waves of growth.” A new vehicle platform should therefore play a crucial role, with which future Tesla cars could be produced much more efficiently.
At the same time, Tesla usually takes several years between the presentation of a new model and the start of production. And with the current state of the art in the “Autopilot” assistance system, it seems questionable how quickly Tesla could put a truly autonomous car on the road.
“Autopilot” yes, but only as an assistance system
Tesla drivers in the USA can currently test use an advanced “Autopilot” version called “Full Self-Driving” (FSD). Contrary to what the name suggests, FSD does not make a Tesla a self-driving car, but is still just an assistance system in which the driver must be ready to intervene at any time to take control. Tesla lowered the price of the FSD software from $12,000 to $8,000 over the weekend.
The financial service Bloomberg reported at the weekend that Tesla could also use the innovations from the new production methods to produce cheaper versions of the current bestsellers Model 3 and Model Y. Analysts are likely to drill down on Musk in the usual conference call after the quarterly figures are presented.
Source: Stern
