Tesla is accelerating plans for a lineup of latest electrical autos, together with “extra reasonably priced fashions,” the automaker stated in a memo to traders Tuesday. New fashions beforehand slated to start out manufacturing within the second half of 2025 will now launch earlier than then, the corporate stated, implying manufacturing will begin a lot earlier.
It’s unclear whether or not the brand new, reasonably priced fashions are the identical mysterious “next-gen” automobile that Tesla has beforehand hinted was within the works, or a brand new lineup. The corporate’s inventory value rose by greater than 9 % in after-hours buying and selling late Tuesday.
The change in plans comes after a troubled few months for Tesla, which has confronted a lag in US EV gross sales and the rising world dominance of Chinese language rivals. Firm outcomes launched in the present day confirmed that each automobile deliveries and complete income fell 9 % within the first three months of 2024 in comparison with the identical quarter final yr. That marks Tesla’s first drop in gross sales since pandemic-troubled 2020 and its largest fall in income year-on-year because the early aughts.
Tesla didn’t present particulars of the reasonably priced autos within the works or how a lot its plans have been pulled ahead. Nevertheless it disclosed in Tuesday’s memo that to speed up manufacturing of latest fashions it would reduce its ambitions for brand new manufacturing expertise.
For years, CEO Elon Musk has touted the corporate’s path-breaking strategy to auto manufacturing. In 2023, he promised that its subsequent era of autos could be produced not by the basic, Henry Ford-ian manufacturing line, however by a brand new, cheaper “unboxed” technique that will enable elements to be assembled concurrently in numerous elements of a manufacturing facility. Executives stated this new strategy would save the automaker labor and manufacturing prices.
The brand new autos slated for supply earlier than mid-2025 will as an alternative be produced on the identical manufacturing strains Tesla at present makes use of, the corporate stated Tuesday, utilizing a mixture of latest and older engineering strategies. That received’t minimize manufacturing prices as a lot as the broader manufacturing revamp, the automaker admitted, “however permits us to prudently develop our automobile volumes … throughout unsure instances.”
The corporate stated that its beforehand introduced future robotaxi automobile will nonetheless be constructed utilizing “a revolutionary ‘unboxed’ manufacturing technique.” Musk debuted a brand new title for the long run automobile on a name with traders Tuesday, calling it a Cybercab.
This isn’t the primary time Tesla has scaled again grand manufacturing plans. In 2016, Musk introduced that Tesla’s Fashions 3 and Y could be constructed utilizing a completely automated manufacturing facility dubbed an “alien dreadnought.” However by 2018 it was clear that Tesla would preserve using people on its manufacturing strains. The ensuing chaos—which WIRED reported left employees to hold automobile elements to their stations by hand—contributed to Tesla’s near-bankruptcy.
Reuters reported earlier this month that Tesla’s plans to construct a extra reasonably priced automobile had been canceled because the automaker pivoted to concentrate on constructing a robotaxi and improved autonomous driving merchandise. CEO Elon Musk disputed the story on X, however confirmed that Tesla would maintain a robotaxi unveiling occasion in August.
Final week, Tesla stated it could lay off some 10 % of its world workforce, and two prime executives left the corporate. On Tuesday the corporate reported 1000’s of job losses to state companies in California, Texas, and New York. The automaker stated in Tuesday’s memo that it has additionally been affected by transport route shutdowns within the Pink Sea through the Israel-Hamas battle, and by a suspected arson assault that introduced down its German manufacturing facility for days.
Additionally final week, the automaker recalled all 4,000 Cybertrucks it had beforehand delivered, after a cleaning soap used within the manufacturing course of allowed the pads on their accelerator pedals to turn into trapped.
