Tesla Postpones Robotaxi Event, Dealing a Setback to Musk's Autonomy Drive
Tesla postpones robotaxi unveiling to October, allowing more time for prototype development. CEO Elon Musk had set the initial date for the event on August 8. Tesla's stock experienced an 8.4% drop, the largest since January.
The internal communication regarding the roughly two-month delay was shared with the design team this week, with instructions to rework certain elements of the car, sources said. The decision to postpone the event, which was initially scheduled for August 8, was not publicly announced.
CEO Elon Musk's announcement of the robotaxi event had generated significant excitement and contributed to an impressive 11-day streak of gains for Tesla, resulting in a market capitalisation increase of over US$257 billion. However, the stock closed 8.4% lower on Thursday, marking its largest drop since January.
Despite requests for comment, Musk has not responded.
The news of Tesla's delay had a positive impact on the stock prices of potential taxi rivals Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. Uber's stock rose by 6.1% on Thursday, while Lyft shares experienced a 4.6% jump.
The concept of an autonomous taxi service has been under consideration at Tesla for several years, dating back to Musk's second "master plan" for the company in 2016. In recent months, Musk has prioritised this project over the development of a more affordable electric vehicle than the Model 3 sedan.
Musk has been vocal about Tesla's advancements in autonomous vehicle technology for over a decade, successfully convincing customers to invest in the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, despite its requirement for constant supervision and the fact that it does not render Teslas fully autonomous. However, Musk and the company's top engineers have been increasingly optimistic about FSD as Tesla's vehicle sales have slowed down.
In the first half of this year, Tesla delivered 6.6% fewer cars, even with the addition of the Cybertruck to its lineup. Additionally, the automaker produced 14% fewer vehicles in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, in an effort to manage inventory levels.
Tesla postpones robotaxi unveiling to October, allowing more time for prototype development.
CEO Elon Musk had set the initial date for the event on August 8.
Tesla's stock experienced an 8.4% drop, the largest since January.
Source: YAHOO