The decision represents an abandonment of a longstanding goal that Tesla chief Elon Musk has often characterized as its primary mission: affordable electric cars for the masses. His first “master plan”, opens new tab for the company in 2006 called for manufacturing luxury models first, then using the profits to finance a “low cost family car.”

Tesla shares were down about 3% in early afternoon trading after the Reuters report.

Musk has since repeatedly promised such a vehicle to investors and consumers. As recently as January, Musk told investors that Tesla planned to start production of the affordable model at its Texas factory in the second half of 2025, following an exclusive Reuters report detailing those plans.

  • @AA5B
    link
    28 months ago

    Same here. I’ve been a huge fan of Tesla disrupting the car industry and have been one of those seeing the potential for ridiculous growth, but wtf? Where’s the growth potential for cars now?

    Sure, Tesla does other things but I find it hard to believe they have the growth rate and profit margin of cars. There’s no way the company has ridiculous growth off the other stuff: it may still be big and more stable of a market but it’s much slower growth.

    I glossed over the previous stock dips with reckless optimism, but I don’t see why it didn’t immediately tank this time