Elon Musk doubled down on Tesla’s fully self-driving (FSD) program and the electric vehicle market during Tesla’s earnings call Tuesday after reporting a decline in sales.
The CEO argued that the company should be seen as an artificial intelligence technology company rather than an electric car maker.
“I don’t think anyone who doesn’t believe Tesla can solve autonomy should not invest in Tesla,” Musk said. Musk said his departure would solve the problem of self-driving cars, and that Tesla was in talks with an unnamed major automaker to license its FSD software.
As other manufacturers shift their focus to hybrid vehicles, Tesla has laid out a vision of a future dominated by electric vehicles.
“Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many automakers prioritize hybrids over EVs,” Tesla’s investor materials said. “While we are positive about our regulated credit business, we want the industry to continue to drive EV adoption, which is in line with our mission.”
Musk defended his commitment to Tesla in response to an analyst’s question about whether ownership of the companies is too dispersed.
“I’m confident that Tesla is very prosperous,” Musk said.
tesla revenue
Tesla reported a 9% decline in revenue compared to Q1 2023. Excluding Tesla’s latest price cuts, car revenue was down 13% and revenue per vehicle was down nearly 5%.
Investor materials cited the Cybertruck expansion, increased research and development, and updates to the Model 3 at the Fremont, Calif., factory as reasons for the decline in sales.
The company’s free cash flow for the quarter was negative $2.5 billion, and net income was $1.3 billion, down 55% from a year ago.
The company proposes an affordable model without providing details
The overall theme of the deck and call was the importance of achievability.
“We have updated our future vehicle lineup to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of the previously announced production start in the second half of 2025,” the investor document states. “These new vehicles, including more affordable models, leverage aspects of our current platform, as well as aspects of our next-generation platform, and will now be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle lineup. Masu.”
Rooters reported that the company pulled out of plans for a lower-priced model earlier this month, but Musk said denied it “Reuters is lying (again),” he said on his social platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
When asked directly about the $25,000 model, Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy did not directly answer the question, instead referring to previous statements about affordability.
Musk CFO defends layoffs
Musk and Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja were fired from the company a day after layoff notices were posted for 2,688 workers at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, factory, and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that 2,735 workers in the Bay Area would be laid off. mentioned the dismissal.
“A growing tree needs pruning,” said Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s chief financial officer.
Tesla announced last week that it would cut 10% of its global workforce.
“As far as I know, we haven’t given up anything that important,” Musk said.
At the end of the call, Martin Bieca, Tesla’s vice president of investor relations, announced his resignation.
Bieča is the third executive to announce his resignation in just over a week. Drew BaglinoSenior Vice President, Powertrain and Electrical Engineering; Rohan PatelVice President of Public Policy and Business Development.
Tesla Q1 Report
tesla stock
Tesla ended after-hours trading up 13%, with regular trading at $144.68 and after-hours trading at $163.96.
