While Elon Musk has been ravaged left and right from various nationwide protests, it would appear that the communists in Beijing are eagerly taking advantage of Tesla’s dwindling fortunes.
And it would appear that those fortunate are definitely dwindling, especially considering that Musk has significantly reduced the manufacturing of his most hyped product in years: the Cybertruck.
Alas, the Cybertruck has barely been on the market, yet it is already retreating, per an exclusive report from Reuters,
“Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab’s plans to ship components from China for Cybercab and Semi electric trucks in the United States were suspended after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods amid a trade war, said a person with direct knowledge. The move could disrupt Tesla’s plan to start mass production of the much-anticipated models, which its CEO Elon Musk has been touting to investors as major innovations providing growth momentum of the U.S. automaker,” Reuters detailed.
Yikes.
This major blow comes in addition to the fact that the tariffs appear poised to cause major league damage to Musk’s firm after all, despite the fact earlier media reports suggested that the tariffs would impact Musk less aggressively than other auto manufacturers.
As detailed by the New York Post, much of the challenge originates from the fact that Musk has a major factory in China, which would be directly subjected to Trump’s tariffs.
“Tesla was seen as more insulated than other American auto brands because it builds all of the vehicles it sells in the US at US-based plants. However, the company has major operations in China and remains reliant on the country for certain components used in its vehicles,” the New York Post detailed.
Not only will Musk’s Chinese operations hurt his business in the present, but also in the future.
“Any supply chain difficulties will make it more difficult to meet Musk’s ambitious goals for fully autonomous vehicles,” the New York Post continued.
That’s not so wonderful news, to put it mildly. Especially as Chinese EV makers are clearly taking major advantage of Musk’s current quandary.
“Tesla also faces increasing competition from Chinese electric car brand BYD, which recently surpassed Musk’s company in global sales and is in the middle of a major international expansion,” the New York Postadded.
You could say that again. Just look at how many Chinese EVs are all over the European market now … steadily eating into Tesla’s market share.
With various EU policymakers making deals with China now, it would appear that the market share of Tesla will further decline as Chinese EVs move in.
With rather frightening technology, to put it mildly.
“The fast-growing firm surged past Tesla with $100 billion in global sales last month while unveiling innovations like five-minute charging for 250 miles of range and an assisted driving system called ‘God’s Eye.’ That’s despite the fact that BYD’s cars aren’t sold in the US due to punitive 100% tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles,” the New York Post detailed.
“God’s Eye.” Yikes.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives is rather aghast at the developments, declaring that Trump’s tariffs have effectively resulted in champagne bottles being popped across Beijing.
“As the words came out of Trump’s mouth, they were probably drinking champagne in BYD headquarters. It accelerates BYD’s success,” Ives ominously intoned.
One of the many casualties of an unexpected trade war, it would appear.
“Tesla is operating in an environment, despite Musk having a front-row seat, that’s actually huge headwinds for the company both domestically and abroad,” Ives added.
Garrett Nelson, an auto industry analyst at CFRA Research, also notes that the future does not look good for Tesla.
“The Tesla story over the last several years has been driven by electric vehicle volume growth. But going forward, in our view, it’s going to be driven more by autonomous vehicles and how quickly they can get fully autonomous vehicles on the road and approved,” Nelson proclaimed.
Without a doubt. The problem, however, is an economic decline that will make future research and development (R&D) rather difficult …
Author: Jane Jones
