Tesla shares dropped by a massive 12 per cent in a single day on Thursday. The effect of Tesla drop sent ripples across the New York stock market and wiped out $109 billion off its valuation.
But with all the propaganda around Tesla and its so-called next-gen EVs, why are investors seemingly unsatisfied with the EV maker? Let’s find out.
No new projects in the pipeline
The EV market is at a nascent stage of evolution. You cannot repackage and rebrand the same thing to your customers again and again. At the end of the day, people are always looking for something new. And with all the hype created around Musk’s ‘genius’ plans, stock investors almost always assume that Musk will announce a new project driving Tesla’s future growth.
But guess what, there are no new projects in the pipeline. Tesla’s genius CEO Elon Musk has announced a humanoid robot called Optimus. He highlighted that the humanoid robot would be deployed in Tesla facilities in an apparent attempt to solve the labour shortage problem in the US.
Read more: The bubble of Elon Musk has finally burst
A humanoid robot is alright. But the issue is that there would be no new Tesla EV product this year. People were expecting the Cybertruck or an affordable EV to be released by Tesla this year, but it isn’t happening.
Tesla running out of momentum
Edward Moya, a senior market analyst, said, “Tesla is clearly running out of momentum, and the lack of a launch of a low-budget car in the mid-$20,000 range really dampens the growth outlook as the competition tries to catch up.”
People have realised that there are better options in the market. Tesla Model 3, the cheapest Tesla electric car comes at a price of $43,990. There are cheaper options in the market like Nissan Leaf, Mini SE Hardtop, Hyundai Ioniq Electric, Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia Niro EV.
Also, other big brands like Toyota are working on cheaper electric cars. Musk had earlier announced plans for a new EV that would be cheaper than Model 3. But it has been reported that Tesla is not working at the affordable model at all and the focus is on the development of artificial intelligence.
Read more: Japan’s EV war against China: Toyota to flood Chinese markets with affordable cars from next year
As Tesla falls behind in the affordable electric car race, the sentiment around the EV maker is also getting lukewarm. With its present prices, Tesla is unlikely to make significant inroads into emerging markets where it currently lacks presence.
The endless wait around Cybertruck
Tesla has been driving a lot of interest amongst EV enthusiasts and stock market investors with the Cybertruck. In 2019 itself, Tesla promised, “Cybertruck is designed to have the utility of a truck and the performance of a sports car. The vehicle is built to be durable, versatile and capable, with exceptional performance both on-road and off-road.”
Sounds futuristic. But when will it be rolled out? Musk has confirmed that Cybertruck won’t hit production lines in 2022. Isn’t it too long a wait? Last year, Musk tweeted, “To be frank, there is always some chance that Cybertruck will flop, because it is so unlike anything else. I don’t care. I love it so much even if others don’t. Other trucks look like copies of the same thing, but Cybertruck looks like it was made by aliens from the future.”
With Musk projecting Cybertruck as a vehicle like no other, people genuinely got interested in the project. This was driving investor interest in Tesla for quite some time. But now the wait for the EV product is becoming endless and investor sentiment is gradually fizzling out. And this is taking a toll on Tesla shares.
If you see Tesla shares register a massive decline, don’t be surprised. Elon Musk is on a failing genius streak and that is bringing down the EV maker’s fortunes.
Atleast learn to write english….?
For the past 2 years Teslas have not qualified for the tax credit yet they still sell more cars than the cheaper brands that do qualify for the credit.
What does that tell you?