Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable

[MC3OZ]

I am pleased to see that at least one other thinks JB Straubel - a truly talented and even-keeled person - would make a fine CEO.

Now, a question: those many of you who vociferously disagree with me: what do you make of Mr Musk agreeing with me: that he would prefer not to be CEO but solely the CTO? Or was that not to be taken seriously?

IMO Elon may take more of a backseat role when he is happy that certain outcomes have been achieved:-

• The next wave of growth
• Robotaxis and Optimus Robots
• Gen3 cars including models cheaper than a comparable ICE car.
• Scaling of batteries and energy storage to Master Plan 3 goals.
• All other Master Plan 3 goals.

I don't think we will have or need, a Master Plan 4.

We are possibly 5-10 years away from that list of outcomes being fully achieved., By that I mean the outcome is certain, but perhaps production volumes are still scaling.

 

[elasalle]

I'm Elon's biggest fan. It's a thread for speculation and keeps discussion off this thread. That serves our common need no?

Other regular times yes, but right now I would say no
It’s adding to the narrative that Elon should be replaced.. just my humble opinion
+ I’ll bet you that folks who don’t like Elon these days will be the ones suggesting alternatives
Cheers!!

 

[CorneliusXX]

I am pleased to see that at least one other thinks JB Straubel - a truly talented and even-keeled person - would make a fine CEO.

Now, a question: those many of you who vociferously disagree with me: what do you make of Mr Musk agreeing with me: that he would prefer not to be CEO but solely the CTO? Or was that not to be taken seriously?

That needs to be put in the context of why he chose to be CEO and remains there. He might prefer to free up his time from the obligations of the CEO role, but has not found someone he thinks is suitable.

 

[elasalle]

Didn’t @TrendTrader007 sell all of his TSLA and load up on TSLL? In that case he wouldn’t have a vote.

Do you believe everything thing James Bond says and does

 

[Matias]

I'm not sure what the Tesla litigation team would have to do with Elon personally suing someone...

Yes. He never uses Teslas resources for personal interests.

 

[Buckminster]

Other regular times yes, but right now I would say no
It’s adding to the narrative that Elon should be replaced.. just my humble opinion
+ I’ll bet you that folks who don’t like Elon these days will be the ones suggesting alternatives
Cheers!!

This forum is no longer part of the narrative. Also, Elon is going to win by a country mile and won't be leaving anytime soon.

 

[cliff harris]

Musk stated on the Q4 2023 earnings call, "Tesla is currently between two major growth waves".
I have learned from you early investors . . .stay calm . .stay the course.

Indeed.
There is a stark difference between Elon and other Auto CEOs, and I don't just mean that he has been CEO since founding, earns a decent chunk of stock (Skin in the game) and has outlasted all his rivals:
When Elon says something, it actually is his genuine belief that it is true. He may be optimistic, and circumstances may change, but its honest.
When Ford/GM/Rivian/Toyota/VW say something, it seems to be utter nonsense, just whatever they think pumps their stock.

Toyota clearly hate EVs and never intend to make any at scale. GM have zero intention of scaling EVs either. Both GM and Ford had no intention of ever building out a usable charging network. Volkswagen hate EVs and are more obsessed with further cheating emissions that giving a damn about pollution or people. Toyota happily turn a blind eye to cheating tests on pedestrian safety, and bankroll misleading FUD campaigns about 'self charging hybrids'.

Elon is a big risk taker, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but his companies leap ahead because of this trait. When they announced hot staging on starship, everyone thought he was nuts. They had already lost entire spacecraft because of staging issues, and it was also the cause of the loss of an early falcon 1 rocket, but Elon believed in the engineering and did it anyway. It now works perfectly.

Whenever I read about Cars/CleanTech/Tesla I always try to edit out anything that is opinion. Thats 99% of the content dismissed. I then see Tesla's western rivals always cancelling, scaling back, and dialing down their EV efforts. Only BYD seems to really 'get it', and Tesla is massively insulated from that threat by tariffs in the US.
If the semi factory was not under construction, and if the cybertruck was poorly reviewed, or not in production, and if FSD seemed to make no progress, I would be concerned, and likely sell half my shares. But everything seems to be lining up brilliantly, if you just look at the facts,

 

[jamaatta]

For comparison, Mary Barra, GM, 02/2024:

"This is a "year of execution" for General Motors as the automaker hits reset on production of its newest electric vehicles, relaunches its troubled self-driving subsidiary Cruise and fixes new-vehicle software glitches, CEO Mary Barra told investors Thursday."

GM's Barra calls 2024 'year of execution' as she looks to reverse regrets of 2023

CEO Mary Barra said she has some regrets last year that will get corrected this year and help GM hit profit goals, get vehicles to market faster.

www.freep.com

Four(!) months later:

"According to CFO Paul Jacobson, the company now anticipates selling between 100,000 and 150,000 EVs in 2024, down from an earlier forecast of 200,000 to 300,000 units."

GM Cuts 2024 EV Sales Forecast by 50% Citing Slower Demand in the US - EV

General Motors (GM) announced on Tuesday it is reducing its projected sales of electric vehicles (EVs) for the year, citing slower-than-expected adoption of EVs in the U.S. market.

eletric-vehicles.com

 

[CitizenKane]

When Ford/GM/Rivian/Toyota/VW say something, it seems to be utter nonsense, just whatever they think pumps their stock.

That sounds like a very biased conclusion. My impression is that other CEOs of listed companies are careful not to make statements that could be seen as affecting share price, not least because it entails personal risks. As for Ford's Jim Farley, he has been unusually supportive of Musk and Tesla and it has been reciprocated by Musk.

Ford CEO Jim Farley says he and Elon Musk have a 'mutual respect'

Ford's CEO has said that he thinks he and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have a "mutual respect" for each other, with the legacy automaker head even...

www.teslarati.com

 

[jamaatta]

That sounds like a very biased conclusion. My impression is that other CEOs of listed companies are careful not to make statements that could be seen as affecting share price, not least because it entails personal risks.

Mrs. Barra 03/2024:

"“We will be selling more EVs in this country than anyone else, including Tesla (TSLA),” Barra said in an interview published yesterday (March 28) with Yahoo Finance’s executive editor Brian Sozzi in at GM’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Mich."

Mary Barra Is Still Committed to General Motors’ EV Push Amid Industry Challenges

“We will be selling more EVs in this country than anyone else, including Tesla,” Barra said.

observer.com

Yeah, right... /s

 

[CitizenKane]

Mrs. Barra 03/2024:

"“We will be selling more EVs in this country than anyone else, including Tesla (TSLA),” Barra said in an interview published yesterday (March 28) with Yahoo Finance’s executive editor Brian Sozzi in at GM’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Mich."

Mary Barra Is Still Committed to General Motors’ EV Push Amid Industry Challenges

“We will be selling more EVs in this country than anyone else, including Tesla,” Barra said.

observer.com

Yeah, right... /s

I agree as regards Barra. But not regarding Farley and I don't remember having seen any crazy promises from VW.

 

[hobbes]

The EU tariffs for Chinese EVs will only be for selected Chinese manufacturers:

Special tariffs will be imposed on electric cars from China from July, the EU Commission announced on Wednesday. Models from the manufacturers BYD, Geely and SAIC are affected. An import tariff of 17.4 percent will apply to BYD, 20 percent to Geely and 38.1 percent to Volkswagen's state-owned Chinese partner group SAIC.

They´ll start in July unless negotiations in the next few weeks are successful.

EU-Kommission droht hohe Strafzölle auf chinesische E-Autos an

Von Juli an sollen auf bestimmte E-Autos aus China Sonderzölle anfallen. Die Kommission lässt die Tür für eine Einigung mit den chinesischen Behörden aber noch offen.

www-sueddeutsche-de.translate.goog

 

[UkNorthampton]

IMO Elon may take more of a backseat role when he is happy that certain outcomes have been achieved:-

• The next wave of growth
• Robotaxis and Optimus Robots
• Gen3 cars including models cheaper than a comparable ICE car.
• Scaling of batteries and energy storage to Master Plan 3 goals.
• All other Master Plan 3 goals.

I don't think we will have or need, a Master Plan 4.

We are possibly 5-10 years away from that list of outcomes being fully achieved., By that I mean the outcome is certain, but perhaps production volumes are still scaling.

Cometh the blockage, cometh the Elon (to unblock and get whatever endeavour going again 10 times faster than almost any other company of its size could do).

Having Elon in charge of tech & finance speeds up decision making. Tesla needs him at the helm today - in the future, maybe not.

We may only have a few years of active Elon left. Having lost friends younger than him, I'd like to have his abilities for Tesla as long as possible, with as little restriction on his brilliance as possible..

 

[Mengy]

And regarding “I have turned against Mr Musk”? It is my belief that it is Mr Musk who has turned: he has turned against the best interests of the small shareholder; his words to the contrary are, to me, palpably…at odds with the truth.

I disagree with this in one specific way: I don't believe Elon ever cared about the interests of small shareholders. I don't think Elon makes decisions with the stock in mind at all, nor do I think he really ever has.

While I think TSLA has darker days ahead yet in the short term, I still believe in the long term TSLA will soar far above its ATH of $415. I don't think this will happen due to Elon doing anything with that in mind, he's simply executing his vision and the revenues/profits will be a side product of that vision.

 

[Todd Burch]

Is it true that Apple posts have been blocked by Elon on X? Went to go check on this rumor and when I search for Apple there are no posts shown.

If false, what am I missing?

If true, is Elon violating his own mantra of freedom of speech?

 

[Fred42]

The EU tariffs for Chinese EVs will only be for selected Chinese manufacturers:



They´ll start in July unless negotiations in the next few weeks are successful.

EU-Kommission droht hohe Strafzölle auf chinesische E-Autos an

Von Juli an sollen auf bestimmte E-Autos aus China Sonderzölle anfallen. Die Kommission lässt die Tür für eine Einigung mit den chinesischen Behörden aber noch offen.

www-sueddeutsche-de.translate.goog

If this works as in the US, the tariff applies to something less than the retail price. Are a 17.4% tariff on BYD imports and 20% on Geely enough to make a big difference in sales?

 

[aubreymcfato]

Is it true that Apple posts have been blocked by Elon on X? Went to go check on this rumor and when I search for Apple there are no posts shown.

If false, what am I missing?

If true, is Elon violating his own mantra of freedom of speech?

don't think it's blocked, they probably never tweeted.

 

[Kooky675]

The EU tariffs for Chinese EVs will only be for selected Chinese manufacturers:



They´ll start in July unless negotiations in the next few weeks are successful.

EU-Kommission droht hohe Strafzölle auf chinesische E-Autos an

Von Juli an sollen auf bestimmte E-Autos aus China Sonderzölle anfallen. Die Kommission lässt die Tür für eine Einigung mit den chinesischen Behörden aber noch offen.

www-sueddeutsche-de.translate.goog

Press corner

Highlights, press releases and speeches

ec.europa.eu

From the EU article : "Other BEV producers in China, which cooperated in the investigation but have not been sampled, would be subject to the following weighted average duty: 21%. All other BEV producers in China which did not cooperate in the investigation would be subject to the following residual duty: 38,1%."


Further reading : Trade defence investigations
In the document Information at provisional stage (pre-disclosure) it lists Tesla at 21 % for the "Proposed provisional countervailing duties", as it was not further investigated (Other cooperating companies (See Annex)).

Interesting that BYD apparently was investigated and only looks at 17.4 %, leaving Tesla at a disadvantage. This is probably the reason why Tesla wanted to be included in the investigation list.

 

[Usain]

I disagree with this in one specific way: I don't believe Elon ever cared about the interests of small shareholders. I don't think Elon makes decisions with the stock in mind at all, nor do I think he really ever has.

While I think TSLA has darker days ahead yet in the short term, I still believe in the long term TSLA will soar far above its ATH of $415. I don't think this will happen due to Elon doing anything with that in mind, he's simply executing his vision and the revenues/profits will be a side product of that vision.

I think you are right. Remember, Elon wanted Tesla to go private. I think he would still prefer that. His overall vision is his priority. Shareholders are not.

That's not to say he isn't grateful to retail shareholders who have stood firm with him. But Elon's tech empire is his greatest concern because he thinks that his vision of the future is best for humanity. Elon thinks if he is the one running the show, the world will be better.

Like all great leaders, his arrogance is overwhelming. But I think he mostly means well and I'm glad I can make money from investing in his incredible talent.

 

[hitchhiker]

I'll be happy when Thursday is over and we can move on to the next controversy. I'm bored of this one.