Global Courant 2023-05-17 03:02:49
An aerial photo shows Tesla’s headquarters on January 3, 2023 in Travis County, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Tesla CEO Elon Musk addressed shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on Tuesday, predicting the economy would pick up after 12 months and promising the company would deliver production of Cybertrucks later this year.
Highlights included:
CEO Elon Musk said Tesla will deliver its first Cybertrucks this year and should be able to deliver 250,000 to 500,000 a year once production starts. He said he will drive a Cybertruck daily. The economy will be in the doldrums for the next 12 months and many companies will go out of business, but Tesla will be well positioned in the long run. the “world’s best-selling car this year”Tesla could rethink its long stance against traditional advertising: “We’ll try a little bit of advertising and see how it goes.”Tesla plans to produce a new kind of power unit, which Musk said there is less silicon carbide is needed than previous drivetrains, and no rare earth metals. Tesla will also switch to a new low-voltage architecture in its cars that should require less copper. JB Straubel, former CTO of Tesla and current leader of e-waste recycling company Redwood Materials, was voted to the board as an independent director.
Shares rose about 1% after closing time during the event.
During the Q&A session, a participant dressed as a robot in a cowboy hat asked Musk if Tesla would build an RV or an RV. Musk said the company doesn’t plan to build a motorhome at this point, but that the forthcoming Cybertruck could be converted into a motorhome or an RV.
In response to a question about his acquisition of the social media service Twitter for $44 billion, Musk said it was a “short-term distraction” and he would have to undergo “major open-heart surgery” to ensure its continued existence. pleased that former NBC Universal advertising executive Linda Yaccarino is joining the company to become the new CEO.
Another participant asked Musk if he would reconsider Tesla’s longstanding stance on traditional advertising. Historically, the company has relied on word of mouth, influencer marketing, and other non-traditional marketing and advertising to publicize its products and their best features.
Musk said on Tuesday, “We’ll try a little bit of advertising and see how it goes.”
Straubel added on board, touted Optimus
Earlier, shareholders voted to add former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, who is now the CEO of Redwood Materials, to the automaker’s board of directors. Redwood Materials recycles waste electronic and batteries and hit one last year billion dollar deal with Tesla supplier Panasonic.
Following the shareholder vote, CEO Elon Musk kicked off his portion of the meeting by committing to conduct an external audit of Tesla’s cobalt supply chain, namely to ensure there is no child labor at any of Tesla’s cobalt suppliers.
Cobalt is a critical ingredient for the production of batteries used in Tesla’s electric cars and backup battery packs used in homes and utility-scale energy projects. “Even for the small amount of cobalt we use, we will make sure no child labor is exploited for six weeks until Sunday,” Musk said to cheers from investors in attendance.
Later in his presentation, Musk boasted about the company’s energy storage business, saying growth in “big battery” sales outpaced growth in the company’s main auto segment.
In 2017, Musk unveiled a “next gen” Tesla Roadster at an event to announce the Tesla Semi, the company’s Class 8 electric truck. On Tuesday, he said the Roadster, originally slated for production and delivery in 2020, could enter production in 2024.
Musk was also optimistic about a humanoid robot under development at Tesla called Optimus. Optimus should be able to run on the same kind of software and computer that Tesla uses to enable advanced driver assistance systems in its cars, Musk said.
The CEO said he believes “a majority of long-term value” at Tesla will ultimately be derived from Optimus.
Provide distraction
Since the electric vehicle maker’s last annual meeting in August 2022, Tesla’s largest retail shareholder, Leo Koguan, has criticized Musk for selling billions of dollars of his Tesla holdings to avoid a $44 billion buyout of Twitter, the social media company.
Koguan, billionaire and founder of IT services company SHI International, called on the company’s board to “execute shock therapy to revive the share price”, namely through a share buyback late last year.
Some institutional Tesla investors have admonished Musk for being too distracted by his new role as CEO of Twitter to perform at his best at Tesla’s helm, but Musk said Tuesday he expects to spend less time on Twitter in the future than he has in the past six years. months. They have also criticized Tesla’s board, led by Chairman Robyn Denholm, for failing to rein in him and protect the interests of shareholders.
One participant asked Musk about rumors he was considering quitting Tesla. Musk said “it’s not like that.”
He added, “I think Tesla is going to play an important role in AI and AGI and I think I need to monitor that to make sure it’s right,” speaking of artificial general intelligence, which is the idea belongs to a hypothetical intelligent agent. Musk then claimed that Tesla has “by far the most advanced real-world AI” of any technology company today.
Shares in Tesla closed at $228.52 on October 28, 2022, after Musk officially acquired Twitter. They closed at $166.52 on May 16, 2023, when the meeting began, and are up about 1% after hours.
At last year’s shareholder meeting, Musk predicted an 18-month recession, teased the possibility of stock buybacks, and told investors that the electric car industry aims to produce 20 million vehicles a year by 2030, which he believes will reach in a total of a dozen factories would be needed. one that produces 1.5 million to 2 million units per year.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
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