Mod Note: Keep comments on this thread limited to the impact on Tesla, or at least relate them to direct consequences on the Tesla brand, there's a CA thread if you want to discuss his larger influence, if in doubt PM me (@liamog)
This thread should be limited to discussion of Elon Musks actions within the scope of the vehicle manufacturer Tesla and not a reflection of his broader actions in the realms of politics and "free speech". There is a thread on the current affairs forum which is more suited to that discussion
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DISCLAIMER: This is not a discussion of Elon Musk's politicalviews or opinions, but rather their effect on Tesla. I'm happy to debate politics over on the politics forum, but this is a discussion about Tesla and how their future is (or isn't) tied to Elon's
So there's been a lot of articles recently that Elon's purchase of Twitter is hurting Tesla's brand and share price, either directly from his large share sales during the year, or indirectly through announcing support for groups like the Republican party
Without delving into Elon's political views, what are people's opinions of these articles. Is Tesla going to suffer because of Elon's innovative approach to public relations and company leadership?
In my opinion, yes and no. I don't think Tesla's sales are going to be hurt be Elon's rantings on Twitter. There's a portion of the population who bought a Tesla because they want to save the planet and believed Elon was the man to do it. Most of them probably own a Tesla already and are unlikely to switch to another brand over what Elon's been saying on Twitter
I think it has perhaps put a few prospective buyers off but there's enough people out there with the cash to buy one that it won't have any real impact.
There's talk in the US about higher inventory of new Teslas than ever, but I would imagine this is probably down to a bunch of people who had deposits down but the cost of living has made a new Tesla unaffordable
The other side of the coin is Tesla's share price. It's been said that Tesla is a software company that makes cars, I would argue that in recent years Tesla has been an investment fund that happens to make software and cars
Here the Elon effect is more obvious, between his sales of his own Tesla shares and controversial leadership of Twitter the share price has gone down and a lot of investors have been spooked
I don't think it's entirely Elon's fault, there was a general downturn in tech companies, but Tesla got hit worse than others.
There's also been a general acknowledgement that self driving cars aren't around the corner which seemed to be what a lot of Tesla's share price was based on. Combined with rising interest rates which make those long term research projects look a lot more risky, it's probably contributed to Tesla's share price drop
But there has still be a big drop in value likely attributed to Elon
Some of Tesla's biggest investors are now complaining about the board of directors being asleep at the wheel and saying Elon is not focused on his duties as CEO. The fact that his biggest followers are saying that is significant by itself
To be clear, I don't think Tesla's future success is wholly dependant on Elon being CEO, but there are decisions around future investment and spending that only the CEO can do. And if he's not paying attention then the company risks stagnation
The third factor is that Tesla needs to attract good talent to maintain it's technological lead over other companies. Given how Elon has changed Twitter from what was generally regarded as a good work environment to a cesspit of "hardcore" developers pulling long hours, it'll put a lot of people off. Especially when there's other companies out there offering remote working and a more stable environment
So what does the future hold for Tesla?
In my totally uninformed opinion, I think if things continue as they are we may eventually see Elon forced to step down as CEO and probably take a director or CTO role or something like that. He'll probably sell this as wanting to focus on Twitter anyway
I think Tesla's days of being the exception to the rule of car companies are coming to an end somewhat and whoever the next leader is will be responsible for untangling the company's image from Elon's image.
They'll probably have to do normal car company things like have a PR department and do advertising campaigns and stuff. In general I'm hoping that Tesla does what it does best which is to make fantastic EVs
Anyway, those are my views, what are yours?
