Seems unlikely for either to succeed, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t try, I suppose.
The problem is Tesla’s stock price needs to remain sky high for it to work. That means keeping the market thinking there’s a massive innovation coming soon, something huge that Tesla will have a monopoly over. Originally it was electric cars, Elon needed to convince investors they were so far ahead that competition wouldn’t catch up. Then it was a fully automated factory, then humanoid robots.
Now it’s full self driving.
A move to ICE cars, a much more competitive market with lower margins, will be a signal that Tesla is a normal company that should be valued as such. ICE cars are also more complicated and absolutely need a dealer network for repairs. Those dealers have tremendous power over the manufacturers, too. Doesn’t seem like something Elon would sign up for.
Seems unlikely for either to succeed, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t try, I suppose.
The problem is Tesla’s stock price needs to remain sky high for it to work. That means keeping the market thinking there’s a massive innovation coming soon, something huge that Tesla will have a monopoly over. Originally it was electric cars, Elon needed to convince investors they were so far ahead that competition wouldn’t catch up. Then it was a fully automated factory, then humanoid robots. Now it’s full self driving.
A move to ICE cars, a much more competitive market with lower margins, will be a signal that Tesla is a normal company that should be valued as such. ICE cars are also more complicated and absolutely need a dealer network for repairs. Those dealers have tremendous power over the manufacturers, too. Doesn’t seem like something Elon would sign up for.