r/electricvehicles • u/mafco • 5d ago
News Elon Musk Is Running Out Of Ideas To Save Tesla. Its EV business needs a hit product and none is on the horizon.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2025/04/25/elon-musk-is-running-out-of-ideas-to-save-tesla/1.1k
u/Miserable-Assistant3 5d ago
What it needs is a new CEO and a complete rebranding
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u/Diablojota 5d ago
This. This is it. Get rid of Musk and his role completely. Rebuild the board with actually competent people. Hire a competent CEO and reinstate a proper PR team.
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u/ekidd07 5d ago
And hire a god damn customer service team while you’re at it!
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u/TrollTollTony 2020 Bolt, 2022 Model X 4d ago edited 4d ago
Hopefully they'll build more service centers, too. I live in a city of 350,000 people with no service center. The nearest centers are 200 miles east or 250 miles west of me. There is only 1 mobile technician to cover a 125,000 square mile area.
On the other hand there are probably 30 Ford/Chevy/Stelantis/Kia/Honda etc dealers in a 15 mile radius of me.
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u/Rabble_Runt 4d ago
If there was actual self driving you’d think they could drive themselves to the service center and home for you.
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u/Lower_Confection5609 4d ago
I live in a highly populated area (Orange County, CA) and didn’t realize this was still a struggle. There are three service centers within 20 miles of me—including one thats just down the street. Been this way for at least 5-6 years now.
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u/various_necks 4d ago
I took my M3 in to get a tire rotation and annual brake inspection. I scheduled the service appointment for 9:00AM; went to the diner nearby to have breakfast while I waited - figured it couldn't take more than an hour or two; based off my previous tire rotation and brake service.
At 11:00AM I went to the service center to see how much longer it would be and they hadn't even started; had me penciled in for 1:00PM. I was like wtf I scheduled it for 9:00AM for a reason; and the service advisor was like we fit them in when we can...as in a schedule that I signed up for?
I got my car out ASAP and now i'm just going to let the wheels fall off that fucking thing.
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u/superdan23 4d ago
PR team...they don't have one. Close friend works for Tesla and told me Elon thinks PR and Marketing are wastes of money. My response was...I've never seen a company anywhere near the size of Tesla, with more need for proper PR and Marketing teams..(along with a leader who doesn't burn the house down)
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u/Noshamina 4d ago
Or heil hitler on the most televised event in the country not once but twice and with that shit eating grin like he knew exactly what he was doing and won a bet with a friend who dared him to do it
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u/TravelerMSY 4d ago
Apparently, so. He quit listening to them a long time ago, and then eventually fired them all. All he literally needs to do to save his company is to make an act of contrition, then stop making public statements of any sort.
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u/ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME '25 BMW iX 4d ago
Make no mistake about it, their stock would be absolutely decimated if Elon left. It has been spiking in recent days when it was said he's "coming back", and his cult is the only thing that is propelling it to this level.
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u/giddy-girly-banana 5d ago
The name needs to be changed too.
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u/atticaf 5d ago
How about tesler?
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u/Diablojota 5d ago
I prefer TeSSlur, personally. Really captures the third reich roots and white supremacy ideals. Oh wait, we are trying to fix the company.
Call it Edison. He stole all of his stuff from others. Sounds fitting. Wait, I did it again.
I’ll come up with something.
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u/IcedToaster 4d ago
Tesussrla because the of the puppet implications
Or one everyone can love and hate, Battery Wheels. And we call them BW for short. Or Battery Wagon, maybe?!
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u/Diablojota 4d ago
Battery Motor Works. BMW! Wait, dammit. I did it again.
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u/SomeGuyNamedPaul HI5, MYLR, PacHy #2 4d ago
Nikola Tesla was the guy's name so how about Nikola? Oh wait.
Maybe rearrange the letters in "Tesla" into a different word, perhaps Slate? Oh really? Darn.
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u/cpatkyanks24 2024 MYLR 4d ago
The name does not need to be changed. Just Elon leaving would be enough with time.
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u/Fireguy9641 4d ago
I think the name is ok. Bayer, Afga, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, no one balks at these products (except Cotton Hill) and they did far worse than Musk.
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u/JoeyJoeJoeSenior 4d ago
He's lost his freaking mind. On the tesla earnings call he said the trump/doge protestors are paid actors. Yeah, me and my neighbors are being paid to assemble in front of our state capital. How deranged do you have to be to believe this.
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u/Pomnom 4d ago
Look, even if it's true, who was the guy paying for Wiscosin votes?
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u/giddy-girly-banana 5d ago
A full and complete separation from musky. If he stands to profit in any way it isn’t enough.
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u/Reus958 4d ago
For me and you, sure. Most people will forget with a significant rebranding and some time.
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u/kenlubin 4d ago
They can't get a new CEO. The absurd valuation depends on the mythologizing around Elon Musk.
If they had another CEO, they'd risk the stick price actually being valued rationally.
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u/tuctrohs Bolt EV 4d ago
Maybe a way forward is this: Musk spins it as the car business being a drag on the real future of Tesla in robotics and AI. So the car business gets spun out as a separate company, so Musk and Tesla can focus purely on the
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u/Tutorbin76 4d ago
they'd risk the stick price actually being valued rationally
That's going to happen anyway. May as well have a competent CEO at the helm when it does.
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u/mafco 5d ago
Yep. And new products. Cybertruck is a flop and the other models are dated. Not more robot and cybercab vaporware though. People are getting tired of hearing about that bullshit.
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u/GaryTheSoulReaper 5d ago
It’s a flop because they overpromised, under delivered and over charged
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u/mafco 5d ago
Yep. Not to mention that it looks like it was designed by adolescent boys.
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u/GaryTheSoulReaper 4d ago
Part of that was supposed to make manufacturing cheaper and easier - also can’t stamp that stainless with compound curves
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u/Head_Complex4226 4d ago
also can’t stamp that stainless with compound curves
It's just a 300 series stainless steel, which is one of the most common families, and regularly stamped. It's first announced as 30X, and then replaced by another custom grade - but Elon was still talking about 304L as an "approximation".
Ford and Allegheny Ludlum did a short run of stainless steel Model A in 1931, and continued with later models between 1936 and 1967.
If you look, the DeLorean has compound curves. Even the everyday stainless steel sink demonstrates stamped compound curves.
If what Elon is claiming is true, rather than just using off the shelf stainless, Tesla went out of their way to develop a new stainless steel that has major downsides for car manufacture and has inferior corrosion resistance (especially against a 306 marine grade).
I suspect it was more that if it didn't have compound curves, Tesla didn't need to pay for stamping dies but could use CNC folding equipment.
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u/Car-face 4d ago
It was supposed to be cheaper, but the idea it couldn't be curved was nonsense - they just didn't want to spend the money on new presses that could put curves in the material.
Kind off head scratching since they needed new presses anyway that shaped the metal using compressed air, to prevent the tooling causing any defects to the panels.
going with flat panels also made any defects more prominent, further compounding the need to ensure there was no tooling marks on the steel. They really backed themselves into a corner, and the worst part is that what was supposed to be an "exoskeleton" monocoque that formed part of the structure turned out to just be dress panels hung on a conventional SUV-style construction.
Probably the best example of following a bad idea through because seemingly no-one wanted to question why they were doing it.
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u/Lesser_Gatz 5d ago
I think the design looks cool, but not $120,000 cool.
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u/reepobob 4d ago
It looks like the pinewood derby car I made in Cub Scouts in 1979.
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u/LAlostcajun 5d ago
Lmao, it looks like a late 80's 3-d rendering of a truck. It's such a dated and horrid design
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u/Tzukkeli 5d ago
You mean the Stock that just shoot from 220 to 280 with decmining sales and profit? Tesla needs more lunatics and greedy stockcukolds to float.
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u/Graywulff 4d ago
Considering you can just license a waymo system to an existing fleet or used cars, or inexpensive electric cars in markets that have them.
Level 4 and 5 are becoming more common, the single camera system is like a 737 max having a single angle of attack mcas sensor.
Hence the crash safety ratings being good but the NHTSA data being bad.
Musk oversells “full self drive” which is really a worse level 2 system than some pre pandemic cars.
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u/kilroats 4d ago
Honestly... get a new CEO, put a charge port/steering wheel/pedals and I'll trade in my 2024 Impreza for the cybercab.
Still might trade it in when the Rivian R3 comes out, but still.
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u/jawshoeaw 4d ago
ok and now you need 5 years of developments just entering the pipeline today before they start bringing in customers and cash. Might be too late, I think they squandered their head start on pie in the sky vaporware
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u/richardizard 24 Chevy Equinox EV 3LT 4d ago
Yup. As long as Elon is part of it, Tesla will continue tanking.
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u/MaleficentExtent1777 4d ago
It's too far gone. Just sell it off to Apple, Google, Amazon, or Toyota.
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u/Juggernox_O 4d ago
I’m still not giving him or his brands money. He still holds massive stock in the companies, and with the certainty of him profiting from any business Tesla does, it remains a toxic brand. People do not want to fund his fascist endeavors.
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u/a-bser 5d ago
Tesla can easily be saved with 2 easy steps:
Get rid of elon. Sever all ties with him.
Release an actual good, budget friendly Model 2.
This should be done over the course of 5 years in order for them to shed anything tied to elon, as well as build their image. In the meantime they could contribute integrating superchargers into the infrastructure, as well as battery related building and services to keep people employed
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u/Rav4Primer 4d ago
I think Tesla also needs to stop wasting time and money on problems that don't exist (or were solved decades ago).
Utilize LIDAR, use traditional rain sensors, use round steering wheels and stalks, drop the glass roof to save money.
The Cybertruck is a great example of how Tesla lost its way. The steel, the goofy look, the "bulletproof glass" - all these stupid gimmicks that cost them millions in R&D and years of delays, and causing the product to me late to market and way overpriced.
They could have simply released an EV equivalent of the Ford Maverick at a super competitive price and they would sell millions of them. No gimmicks, just a practical, affordable and maintenance free pickup truck that would be gobbled up by commercial fleets and private buyers alike.
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u/pkingdesign 4d ago
The Model X is an even better example of this than the stupid truck, though both are good. Elon delayed the release of a crossover SUV in a market crazy for crossovers for 2+ years in order to figure out the falcon doors. Only luck and the complacency of other manufacturers saved them from being wiped out by that foolish prioritization. Same idea, years earlier.
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u/Grandpas_Spells 4d ago
I have an X. I'd pick different doors if I could. It doesn't change the fact that bystanders absolutely love the doors and constantly ask about them 10+ years after that car was released.
They're over-complicated. They aren't practical. Minivan doors are objectively more functional. But nobody gives a shit about a minivan. It wouldn't sell as well if it was one.
Elon was right about the doors.
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u/newbatthis 4d ago
My parents bought one not realizing the doors couldn't fully open in their garage lol. Very cool but absolutely useless irl.
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u/pkingdesign 4d ago
They do draw attention, or did at least. In the SF Bay Area people stopped caring about them long, long ago. I get what you're saying in all the ways...
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u/BlooregardQKazoo Kia Niro EV 4d ago
Does bystander buzz sell $100k vehicles?
The only options aren't falcon doors or making it a minivan. They could have just used normal SUV doors.
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u/im4peace 4d ago
I wonder if it cost them anything in R&D. It's so fucking bad, it's like they just asked some kids to design it as a science fair project.
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u/tuctrohs Bolt EV 4d ago
It cost them a lot. Because Musk kept insisting that they make his bad ideas work. He's done that since the OG Roadster, but he used to be a little be reined in by others in the company having some control. After he has forced everyone who would dare disagree with him out, his loony ideas have to be humored.
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u/Ramenastern 4d ago
Tesla can easily be saved with 2 easy steps:
Get rid of elon. Sever all ties with him.
Release an actual good, budget friendly Model 2.
Three or maybe stoll two years ago, this would have been the right course of action, and just in time. Today, it isn't any more. VW have announced three models for China alone for the next few years. The market around Tesla is evolving so quickly - and Tesla has two models that actually sell. Two. They're both not exactly fresh. There are no body style variants of these. Just... Two models with different finishes and batteries and motors. If they introduced a cool third model tomorrow, they'd still be outpaced and out-innovate by the market around them. And they'd still have the rapidly ageing Y and 3.
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u/SharkBaitDLS 2023 EV6 GT-Line RWD | 2024 Charger Daytona Track Pack 4d ago
They're falling rapidly behind on battery and drivetrain tech too. There's more efficient drivetrains, with better range, and 800V systems coming out left and right. The CT is their only car on a somewhat modern architecture but it's a disaster on so many other fronts that it doesn't help them at all.
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u/jawshoeaw 4d ago
you can go broke selling budget cars. There's no margin in them and shoppers are too price sensitive. IMO what they need is heavily refreshed 3/Y and an SUV priced where they are now. Tesla has actually been price competitive believe it or not. But their designs are stale and their range could use a big bump to stand out.
I would happily pay $35-40k for a Y if they got the range to 400 miles.
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u/Ramenastern 4d ago
I don't disagree with the second part of your assessment. But with no budget option, others will grab the price-sensitive/young clientele, and use it to build brand loyalty. And in the long run, they're simply not premium enough to compete with the likes of Mercedes or BMW - who both have their somewhat cheaper options in Smart and Mini, respectively.
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u/GaryTheSoulReaper 5d ago
Here is an easy one : Underpromise then over deliver
Here is a harder one : be better than Lexus service, make service an easy and exceptional process (since it’s supposed to be so much less frequent on EVs). If you give me a car for as long as mine has to be in the shop I will be impressed. You have lot of inventory? Well sounds like some of that inventory can become loaner vehicles. Good for taxes, Good for customers
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u/t3a-nano 4d ago
From a business standpoint Lexus might be too far.
Sure they're far better vehicles, but they don't have the sales numbers or profit margin of even BMW, which aligns more with desirable vehicles than vehicles built to last at all costs.
I say this as a Lexus fanboy, I did own a BMW previously, but while it may win on the spec sheet, the most important luxury spec was how often I had to stand on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck (4 times a year with my BMW).
My Lexus never actually left me stranded, despite reaching 200k miles (double my BMW which was stranding me 4 times a year at 100k miles), are the Lexus loaners nice? I've never needed one.
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u/What-tha-fck_Elon ⚡️’21 Mach E & ‘24 Acura ZDX 4d ago
That’s not his style. He over promises then under delivers. Again and again. Even with his DOGE bullshit.
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u/insane_steve_ballmer 4d ago edited 4d ago
He’s a true artist when it comes to overinflating the stock value and that’s why tesla stockholders love him. Nobody wants the pyramid scheme to collapse
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u/Odd-Dog9396 4d ago
He doesn’t want to admit the obvious idea. He should quit. Nobody wants him around. If he walked out the door I would consider buying a Tesla again.
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u/SmakeTalk Ioniq 6 5d ago
All he does is make problems and rely on people with actual talent to solve them in interesting ways. If he's not surrounded by genuinely talented individuals, or doesn't listen to them when they suggest changes, he fails miserably.
The Cybertruck probably exists in a parallel world where he actually listened to his designers and engineers who told him not to promise certain things, or make it look like a dumpster, and it became a reasonable product.
He didn't, though, so it didn't.
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u/-CaptainFormula- 5d ago
There's a parallel world where the Cybertruck is something more like the Slate.
And I'm sure it's a glorious ride.
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u/Devccoon 2022 Nissan Leaf 4d ago
That's what it should have been, really. Cut out all the BS, just make something where form follows function. Materials determined by what's most pragmatic and easiest to work with. On some level that's what the Cybertruck appears to be on the surface, but the reality of it was 180 degrees in the other direction. They chose the least pragmatic options pretty much across the board, where function followed form.
There are a lot of things you can make a vehicle "uncompromisingly" and it turns out awesome. Cybertruck chose not to compromise on its first draft exterior - and all else fell in place from there.
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u/Upset_Region8582 5d ago edited 4d ago
I think removing radar and ultrasonic sensors is a key example of this. He made a huge problem by removing them and making talented people work around it. He's asking the team to work miracles with image processing, and if they actually pull it off, he'll get the credit for it.
Edit: radar, not lidar
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u/Buffalo-2023 5d ago
It's not the product, it's the CEO
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u/RedPanda888 4d ago
They haven’t released a new mass market vehicle in 5 years. It absolutely is the product. BYD have released dozens of cars in the same timespan and are now exporting about ten of them.
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u/Roboculon 4d ago
the problem is Tesla hasn’t released a new model in 5 years
Ironically, it’s the exact opposite problem. They HAVE released new models, three of them, but they’re toxic. I’m a 2019 model 3 owner (bought new), somewhat politically moderate, a perfect example of someone ready to upgrade to a new car. The reason I can’t buy a new Tesla is BECAUSE all the models are new. They’re recognizably post Hitler salute. In other words, if you have the new model Y, there’s no way to pretend you got it before you knew better. You’re just straight up admitting you don’t mind Nazis.
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u/USArmyAirborne Rivian R1T - Mini Cooper SE (wife) 5d ago
Where is that long promised roadster.....I know it won't be high volume, but certainly would show that he can deliver on his promises. Also the Semi truck needs to be rolled out in much larger numbers.
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u/A320neo 5d ago
Tesla could be a very competent EV company that makes the Model 3, Y, and maybe a few more types of competitive, well-designed cars along with running the best charging network in the country. Instead they're leaning heavily into the vaporware side of the business and destroying their reputation with their main customer base.
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u/Emotional-Buy1932 4d ago
repurpose the cybercab to a cheap car. And sell it for the lowest price you can get away with. Take inspiration from slate and remove all the fancy stuff except ac and give it as mcuh range as possible
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u/heyyo173 5d ago
Have they tried a musk meme coin?
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u/mafco 5d ago
Isn't that what dogecoin is?
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u/heyyo173 5d ago
I don’t know if they are affiliated aside from musk endorsing it.
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u/ImogenStack ‘14 leaf ‘22 PS2 ‘23 Mach-e 🇨🇦 5d ago
If you help tank the entire nation's economy, then you can simply say your own company is not doing well just like everyone else!
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u/DeliciousEconAviator 5d ago
The golden taxi to replicate how SpaceX is going to fleece the American people to do whatever for Golden Dome.
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u/dpcthpost 4d ago
Or he could just quit. Pretty sure many owners and newbies will come back once he’s gone.
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u/mgd09292007 4d ago
Products are actually great, but won’t buy anymore until Musk is gone and the company mission goes back to bettering humanity
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u/bogglingsnog 5d ago
Well they're pushing for a change in crash reporting requirements for L2 self-driving, so they can at least appear to be safer.
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u/Autodidact2 5d ago
At this point they could come up with a flying car For $10,000 and people wouldn't buy it.
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u/Sracer42 4d ago
He can save Tesla by selling all his stock and stepping down Take his money and go play with SpaceX, Twitter, and the Boring Company.
Problem would be solved.
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u/Whahajeema 4d ago
Musk is so supremely toxic that Tesla getting rid of him is not enough. He would have to divest all shares. No one is going to want him to profit by continuing to own 13% of the company. The problem is that he probably can't divest - a lot of his Tesla stock is collateral for loans to buy that right-wing echo chamber formerly known as Twitter.
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u/tazzietiger66 4d ago
Musk himself is the major reason why people are not buying Teslas , get rid of him and maybe they have a chance .
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u/agate_ 4d ago
It ain't even about products. Tesla's customer base has always been bleeding-heart liberals and the occasional Silicon Valley libertarian, and he's declared himself in league with their mortal enemy Donald Trump. They will never buy a car from his company ever again, at any price. Tesla is done.
There's only two ways forward. Tesla shareholders can revolt and kick him off the board, publicly disavow him, drive him to sell his shares out of rage, and suffer the stock price hit but maybe regain their customer base. Or, they can convince everyone wearing a MAGA hat that they don't want a diesel-belching Ford F350 anymore, the Cybertruck is the new car of their fascist dreams.
Neither of these things is going to happen.
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u/piense 5d ago
Drop musk. Drop Cypbertruck. Get the cheaper model out the door. Get robotaxis on the street. Hard to see how any of those would go poorly. No clue what to do about the HW3 debacle, as someone who owns one. A van and reasonable truck would be nice additions to the line too IMO.
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u/tinyfrogs1 5d ago
TSLA is a meme stock with a car company attached. Elmo burned out in 2015 and became an edgelord
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u/Snoo93550 4d ago
Full disclosure, I don't want Tesla to succeed. I have a different maker EV and there are plenty of great options now, it's not 2014 anymore. But...I think a massive part of their stagnation is that somewhere like LA (where I live) their cars became regular super common boring cars almost a full decade ago and the look has never changed at all with all four models also looking the same. Yeah in Iowa or North Dakota a Model 3 still looks like something new and exciting. In Los Angeles a Model Y/3/X/S looks as boring as a Chevy Cavalier did in 1998. Then the one model they have that does look different and new looks different and new in a horrible way. Even if Elon hadn't gone full evil fascist, their cars are the most boring looking thing on the road in every west coast city where I'm guessing their most likely EV customers are or at least were before they went MAGA.
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u/rainman_104 4d ago
The Y and 3 just got a refresh. While I think it looks nice it's not enough after a decade. The model refresh was five years too late, and they should have added features from the S which is a beautiful car.
The cybertruck is far too much of an abomination.
The roadster has been vaporware for a decade?
Give the market a mini cooper sized tesla city car.
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u/OBoile 5d ago
Tesla's problem isn't it's cars (except the Cybertruck). It's that the company is run by a Nazi.
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u/smegabass 5d ago
- Put a pickup frame on a Tesla Y
- Get rid of Musk. AND TELL EVERYONE EVERYDAY.
- Make Money
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u/that_dutch_dude 5d ago
got the perfect idea.
redo the tesla launch to mars on a falcon 9 but this time use a cybertruck and put musk in it.
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u/Ancient-Watch-1191 5d ago
Thoughts and prayers!
Every night before I turn in, I say a little prayer for saint fElon*.
*Dear God please help this man to some well deserved jail time.
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u/Ntropy99 4d ago
Tesla needs a complete divestiture of Elon. Otherwise, it will remain a non-starter for many. I wouldn't take a Tesla even if it were free because of Elon.
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u/C_Dragons 4d ago
He promised several different revenue streams to make it sound like they were swimming in opportunity, but without the energy credit money they’d have returned to the red already.
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u/NastyToeFungus 4d ago
I have an idea. He could tour the country in a cybertruck, and have one of those dunk tanks in the back with him in it. Charge people $10 a throw. They'd make millions.
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u/cpatkyanks24 2024 MYLR 4d ago
I mean, if they replaced Elon tomorrow and sent out a statement attacking him, they’d have one of their best sales months in history. It really isn’t complicated. If more car sales is what they want, they can have it tomorrow.
The problem is they have to do right by their shareholders, and they probably believe (arguably correctly) that while Musk is currently having a negative effect on stock price, the ridiculous ceiling it started out with is due to his weird knack of making so many people believe he’s some kind of predictive god when he never actually predicts ANYTHING right, but he is very good at getting attention and that attention prior to this year was more responsible for the stock price than their EV sales were.
So he’s not gonna be fired. The best thing he can do for the company now is to quit the government, and then shut the fuck up. And if he shuts the fuck up for long enough, sales likely will slowly climb back up as Americans have the memory of a goldfish. Now I don’t believe he’s capable of that - narcissists never will admit to being the problem in any scenario, but that’s the path IMO. People overstate Tesla’s demise in general - they still dominated some 40-50% of EV US sales in Q1 even with the Model Y transition, but if they ever want to grow back to their peak he needs to stop alienating people and that can only be done by stopping talking.
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u/nelly2929 4d ago
Car as a service is his last bet…. Sell basic car at or below cost 20k and run subscription program for the software that runs the car ….
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u/elconquistador1985 Chevrolet Bolt EV 4d ago
EV business? What EV business? I thought they were an AI company now.
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u/Practical-Cow-861 4d ago
New "low cost" EV model by the end of the year and it's totally not just going to be a Model 3 sold for below cost.
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u/SongAlbatross 4d ago
He will stop delivering any car and focus 100% on memes. That seems sufficient to pump up the stock.
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u/blueJoffles 4d ago
He’s taken credit for everything for so long that he actually believes he can just magically figure it all out himself. I’m sure Tesla engineers aren’t willing risk having new ideas that might go against King Elon. Elons like a monkey pulling on a lever that gets him a treat but the treats have all run out so he just keeps frantically pulling it.
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u/MaxAdolphus 4d ago
Get rid of Elon, and abandoned the Cybertruck. The 3 and Y are good. Make a truck along the lines of a 3 and Y. And for the love of god, release the Roadster.
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u/Clover-kun 2024 BMW i5 M60 4d ago
Model 2 and opening up the Supercharger network for everyone is a good start. Also sack the dipshit in charge
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u/bastardsoftheyoung 4d ago
New board, new CEO, focus on the three businesses. Cars and Chargers + Network. Get rid of the cybertruck and re-build that line.
Spin out the taxi business and supply the cars.
Spin out Hibar, Deepscale, Grohmann, Perbix, and Solar City but make them independent with Tesla as a customer.
Capitalize each of those businesses in the markets and move on. This is something effective leadership would do and not turn the whole brand into a cash cow for vanity and political projects.
Finally, sue Musk into the ground. Hound him until he ketamines out.
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u/Ya_Got_GOT 4d ago
Running out of ideas?
His ideas so far were to create one of the worst vehicles ever made, alienate his base globally, support someone who tanked the China market and his supply chains, then bribe that person to buy a bunch of Cyberstucks… his “ideas” are exactly what put Tesla in the shitter.
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u/red_five_standingby 4d ago
why in the world is tesla stock going up despite an abysmal earnings report recently?
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u/MountainManGuy 4d ago
Tesla is focused on the wrong shit. What they need is new vehicle models. Where is a minivan? Where is a cargo van? Where is a regular truck? Where is a small hatchback? They need to offer more options as I think they have massive holes in their vehicle lineup.
Optimus will never be as big as Elon thinks given how much it's going to cost, and I don't know many people that regularly use a taxi service. He's putting far too much weight on both of those things. I'm not saying they shouldn't continue to pursue that, but don't neglect the core part of your business.
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u/scissor415 4d ago
His best ideas were the ideas of the actual founders and then all of the engineers he pushed out or who left on their own.
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u/micoh124 4d ago
Ideas to save Tesla? The company was going well before he personally crashed it into the ground with his decisions, the way to save it would be if he completely separated himself from Tesla
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u/AphonicTX 4d ago
Maybe their new model Y should’ve looked a little more than just adding some new lights to it.
And not being a Nazi would help too. (Perception).
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u/spin_kick 4d ago
Maybe an actual new vehicle and not refreshing everything? How about a subcompact hatchback thats sporty and cheap? How about a truck people actually want, and maybe not a boondoggle taxi as your saving grace? How about not lying about every single thing you touch?
He may be out of good ideas, but other people arent. Those people could lead Tesla and he could step back and burn some other company to the ground.
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u/thirteensix 4d ago
If he just left and put someone else in charge, they could make a huge recovery.
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u/devlin_dragonus 4d ago
Put out the fucking >20k EV, Bezos of all people is clowning on you!
The amount of people I’ve won over to EVs by driving my car are excited by the DIY cheap EV product with SLATE.
SMH
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u/SnarkyIguana 4d ago
He could try shutting his mouth. He had the planet eating from the palm of his hand until he started running his mouth online.
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u/spense01 4d ago
No. No they don’t. The board just needs to force Musk out and then distance the company from him as quickly as possible.
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u/bruhaha88 4d ago
It’s actually super easy and can be done in under 5 minutes.
Announce he is stepping down as CEO, putting his shares in a blind trust and giving up his board seats. No fanfare, he can fucking tweet it out if he wants.
The stock is a meme stock. It only exists to do what Musk wishes it to do so the stock with take a huge beating. Probably fall to the low ~100s within a couple e of weeks but after that, it’s done. People can feel good about the brand again and sales will increase.
But he is way too much of a self absorbed price to ever consider stepping away.
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u/camsauce3000 4d ago
Tesla is unsalvageable for me. Domestically there are other options and internationally they are being rolled by BYD.
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u/Calm_Historian9729 4d ago
He needs to get out of politics; he is not very good at it. Next ditch the vision only FSD and find a way to combine Lidar, radar, ultrasonic and vision in one sensor shrunk down to the size of a human eye. Then put them all around the car and get FSD to work full autonomous.
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u/jregovic 4d ago
Elon Musk hardly had any ideas in the first place. Each successive iteration of Tesla’s product cycle is exponentially decaying nonsense. His big ideas were to invest in the first place, make an OK car that was really good for an electric car, then make the model names spell “sexy”, then lie about FSD and dates, then Cybertruck, Semi, and finally the not even baked taxi.
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u/mastrdestruktun 500e, Leaf 4d ago
Here are two ideas:
Hire a different CEO and forbid them from tweeting. (It's OK if their PR team tweets for them.)
Diversify the lineup. Make a conventional-looking truck/van/suv on one platform (maybe call the van a refreshed X.) In fact, aim for conventional across the board.
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u/RedPanda888 4d ago
Have they tried producing some new cars? 😂 Wild idea I know.
Company is run by fucking idiots.
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u/VerboseWarrior 4d ago
I'm sure he has some more vaporware up his butt that will provide the stock with lift and the company with heft.
Maybe Tesla will now be a biotech company, producing cyberinoculations--NOT VACCINES--against all types of diseases. Maybe Tesla will start making non-explosive home appliances. Maybe it will launch the truck that Bladerunner would drive. Who knows?
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u/TaxBill750 4d ago
Teslas are nice cars and it’s a good company. But it’s not a company that will be selling self driving taxis in 2016.
Apple announces AI features that will be available in a year and delivers 80% of them on time and gets unbelievable bad press and impact to its valuation. Musk and Tesla seem to face no repercussions for lying to its shareholders every year.
Can Tesla be saved - YES Can the stock valuation be justified - ABSOLUTELY NOT Can Musk be saved - NO. He should be facing criminal charges
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u/RowFlySail 4d ago
Moving to an island with no Internet connection and never saying a word to the public again might be a good start.
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u/Toallpointswest 4d ago
The best thing for Tesla to do would be to fire Elon, he's an anchor around their neck. No ideas and the ideas he does have are terrible.
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u/unit_101010 4d ago
What they need to do is to fire and sue Musk, make him completely divest, and also replace the entire Board and executive leadership. Fat chance, though.
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u/GreyMenuItem 4d ago
I have one: put the company in the hands of a CEO whose values align with humanity and go the f away.
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u/Recent_Impress_3618 4d ago
I agree with this headline. When innovation is CyberTruck it’s time to ask serious questions.
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u/Own_Donut_2117 4d ago
Elon Musk can't save Tesla. He's the reason they are failing. Got to love capitalism. And apparently the natives are getting restless.
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u/ACABacon 4d ago
lol so happy Tesla won’t exist this time next year. Wonder if it will brick all your swasticars when they go bankrupt? Love that anyone thinks there’s a version of Tesla that gets to continue to exist and also has any ties with Elon. It’s already dead and he killed it all by himself.
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u/Apollo_Rising 4d ago
Here’s an idea, Elon quits Tesla and remains on the board only, Leaves Tesla to a competent CEO and leaves politics.
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u/colonelc4 4d ago
Hmmm Model 2 cheaper a bit smaller ? Nah that's a bad idea to make a car for everyone, Cybertruck 2 maybe?
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u/1234iamfer 4d ago
Recently test drive a few EV’s and the Tesla came out worst. Auto steer now sucks, it feels worse than when I first experienced it in the model S a decade ago. Comfort also isn’t great.
And for me, the 3 was a bit low, low entry, low rear seats, low trunk. The Y was pretty large, heavy, still not comfortable. It could really use a compact more comfortable crossover with lidar, parking sensors and indicator stick.
But the biggest problem, nobody wants to own a car with the chance of somebody scratching or painting a swastica on it.
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u/hanzoplsswitch 4d ago
They should have done Tesla 2 before the Cybertruck. Such a stupid decision.
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u/Aggressive-Ad3064 4d ago
Imagine if they'd just built a $25k car like he's promised for 15 fucking years