In a single of trading today, Tesla’s stock price fell 11.55%. This reduced the company’s market valuation by $109 billion. Currently, Tesla’s market capitalization is $832.6 billion. On Wednesday’s fourth-quarter conference call, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, focused on this year’s R&D efforts on the Optimus humanoid robot. He claims that there will be no new models coming this year and no development. Furthermore, he confirms that the company is not working on the $25,000 Model 3. Also, the production of Cybertruck pickup is delayed until 2023.
This disappointed many investors who were looking forward to Musk’s “updated product roadmap” for good news about the Cybertruck, Semi semi-trailer, and future product plans.
Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp said
“Tesla is clearly running out of momentum, and the lack of a launch of a low-budget car in the mid-$20,000 range really dampens the growth outlook as the competition tries to catch up,”
Analyst Brian Johnson of Barclays in a note to clients said
“In talking product pipeline, Musk pivoted from future vehicles (like the Roadster or <$25k Model 2) to robotaxis and humanoid robots,”…“While we recognize that robotaxis are a crucial part of the bulls’ ‘blue sky’ valuations for Tesla, we are concerned about the lack of a physical product pipeline.”
Gizchina News of the week
Tesla India – Negotiations are in full gear
According to Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, the company is putting things in place to enter the Indian market. On Thursday, he gave the reason why the company is yet to enter the Indian market. He claims that the company is facing a lot of “interactions with the government”. This basically means that Tesla and the Indian government are yet to reach an agreement.
Musk had expected the company to hit the Indian market in 2019, but it still hadn’t happened three years later. Earlier on Thursday, Musk said in response to a user who asked via Twitter when Tesla vehicles would be available in the Indian market said, “still working through a lot of challenges with the government”
Indian government wants “Made In India” cars
Negotiations between Musk’s Tesla and the Indian government have been going on for years. However, talks have stalled over issues such as building a local factory and import duties. There are reports that India’s import tariffs are as high as 100%. The Indian government has also asked the company to increase purchases in the local market and submit detailed production plans. Musk has called for lower tariffs so Tesla can sell imported cars at lower prices in India, where consumption levels are lower.
