On May 24th, Tesla, in its 2023 Impact Report released this Thursday, no longer mentioned its goal of achieving annual sales of 20 million vehicles by 2030, indicating once again that the company is shifting from electric vehicle business to autonomous ride-sharing.
Tesla's CEO Elon Musk previously stated in 2020 that the company aimed to sell 20 million vehicles annually before the end of the 2030s, a number twice the sales volume of the world's largest automaker Toyota. Tesla reiterated this goal in its annual impact reports for 2021 and 2022.
However, Tesla has recently adjusted its strategic direction, discontinuing the development of a new model expected to be priced at $25,000 and focusing on autonomous driving technology as its primary growth engine. The company plans to hold an event for the launch of autonomous ride-sharing on August 8th.
During a video link appearance at the Viva Technology annual summit in Paris on Thursday, Musk stated that autonomous ride-sharing and the humanoid robot developed by the company, Optimus, will have a "profound impact" on Tesla.
He declined to answer questions about when Tesla would introduce low-cost electric vehicles during the summit.
Reports previously indicated that Tesla had abandoned the development of the next generation of affordable electric vehicles in favor of supporting the autonomous ride-sharing project.
Subsequently, Musk stated in April that Tesla planned to launch new models, including affordable cars, earlier this year. However, Tesla later announced that it planned to produce new affordable vehicles using its existing product line rather than building new facilities, a strategic shift that would result in lower cost reductions and sales growth than expected.
Sandeep Rao, a senior researcher at Leverage Shares, a Tesla shareholder, said, "One of the key pillars for Tesla to achieve its 2030 goal is to introduce an affordable model priced at just $25,000." He added, "While Tesla now says it will introduce 'cheaper' cars in the future, this does not necessarily mean a $25,000 model will appear." Tesla's stock price fell by 3.5% on Thursday, closing at $173.74 per share, marking a cumulative decline of about 30% year-to-date.
Slowing growth in electric vehicle demand and increased global competition have impacted the demand for Tesla vehicles. In 2023, Tesla's vehicle sales grew by 38%, below the long-term annual growth target of 50%. Tesla warned in January of a significant slowdown in delivery growth for the year. In the period from January to March this year, Tesla saw a year-on-year sales decline for the first time in nearly four years.
To restructure, Tesla has cut over 10% of its workforce this year, including disbanding the team responsible for Supercharger stations.
Tesla's 2023 Impact Report also indicated that Tesla's fast-charging network achieved a 99.97% uptime, the highest level in at least five years. However, some analysts and former employees warn that the performance of this sector may be affected due to the layoffs.
Furthermore, Tesla did not compare the diversity of its employees with other companies in its latest impact report, nor did it state that the majority of its employees come from minority ethnic groups.
