In Tuesday’s results call, Elon Musk reiterated his support for both the electric vehicle industry and Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) initiative following the company’s revenue loss.
The CEO contended that rather than being an electric car manufacturer, the company should be classified as an artificial intelligence technology company.
“If someone does not believe that Tesla can solve autonomy, I don’t think they should be an investor in the company,” Musk stated. Musk said that if he left the firm, the automaker would figure out vehicle autonomy, and that Tesla was in talks to license the FSD software to a major automaker that would remain nameless.
Tesla presented its vision of an electric-car-dominated future, while other automakers have moved their emphasis to hybrid vehicles.
According to Tesla’s investor presentation, “Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs.” “While positive for our regulatory credits business, we prefer the industry to continue pushing EV adoption, which is in-line with our mission.”
When questioned by an expert about whether or not his ownership of several firms was wearing him too thin, Musk defended his dedication to the Tesla.
Musk remarked, “I make sure Tesla is very prosperous.”
Tesla earnings
Tesla said that its revenue for the first quarter of 2023 had decreased by 9%. Without factoring in the most recent round of Tesla pricing reductions, automotive revenues fell 13%, while revenue per car fell by over 5%.
The company’s Fremont, California factory’s Model 3 update, the Cybertruck’s acceleration, and a rise in research and development were cited in the investor presentation as reasons for the revenue drops.
The company’s net profit for the quarter was $1.3 billion, a 55% decrease from the previous year, and it had a negative free cash flow of $2.5 billion.
The business presents an accessible model without providing specifics.
Throughout both the deck and the call, the significance of attainability was emphasized.
“We have updated our future vehicle line-up to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated start of production in the second half of 2025,” according to the investor deck. “These new vehicles, including more affordable models, will utilize aspects of the next generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms, and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up.”
Earlier this month, Rueters revealed that the business has abandoned plans for a less costly variant. However, Musk refuted that on X, his social media network that was once known as Twitter, stating, “Reuters is lying (again).”
Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy did not explicitly respond to a direct question about a $25,000 vehicle, instead citing previous remarks regarding pricing.
CFO and Musk justify layoffs
The day after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that 2,735 workers in the Bay Area will be laid off and a layoff notice for 2,688 employees at Tesla’s Austin, Texas manufacturing was issued, Musk and Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja addressed layoffs within the firm.
“Any tree that grows needs to be pruned,” stated Vaibhav Taneja, CFO of Tesla.
Tesla declared last week that it would lay off 10% of its employees worldwide.
“We’re not giving up anything that significant that I’m aware of,” Musk stated.
Vice-President of Investor Relations for Tesla, Martin Viecha, announced his resignation from the firm at the conclusion of the call.
After vice president of public policy and commercial development Rohan Patel and senior vice president of powertrain and electrical engineering Drew Baglino, Viecha is the third executive to announce their retirement in less than a week.
