Tesla Unveils "Master Plan Part 3" to Address Shareholder Concerns
Company's Leadership Team Outlines Vision to Become World's Largest Car Maker and Accelerate Transition to Sustainable Energy
Tesla Inc. held an investor event called "Master Plan Part 3" to address shareholder concerns about its leadership team and explain its vision for becoming the world's largest car maker and accelerating the transition to sustainable energy. The event took place at Tesla's factory near the Texas capital and showcased more than a dozen other company leaders, including design chief Franz von Holzhausen, charging infrastructure leader Rebecca Tinucci, and powertrain engineering leader Colin Campbell.
Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn emphasized the importance of managing costs in the industry and stated that the company aims to cut costs by 50% in its next-generation vehicle without providing product details. The company's long-term goal is to sell 20 million vehicles a year by 2030, up from around 1.3 million in 2022. Achieving this goal would require up to around $175 billion in investment, of which Tesla has already spent about $28 billion, according to Kirkhorn.
To achieve its goals, Tesla plans to build a new manufacturing plant near the northern Mexican industrial hub of Monterrey and expand production at all of its existing factories. Tesla is also working on a humanoid robot dubbed Optimus, which the company believes could be worth more than its car business in the long term. The company played a video of robots appearing to walk around and complete tasks such as pulling fabric off artwork hanging on a wall.
Tesla's current lineup includes four passenger models, and the company plans to bring a fifth, its Cybertruck pickup, to market before year-end. However, top of mind for Wall Street has been how—and when—Tesla may roll out a new, less expensive passenger car that would extend the company’s reach into the mass market. Today, the least expensive Tesla available in the U.S. is priced above $40,000. Mr. Musk outlined plans more than two years ago to produce a $25,000 car, but he’s since played down that ambition.
Tesla's stock-price increase returned shares to $202.77 as of Wednesday's close, around the level where they were trading last fall but roughly half of their record high. The recent rally also helped Mr. Musk regain the top spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index this week after he relinquished the unofficial title of world’s richest person in December.
Tesla's "Master Plan Part 3" event follows previous master plans, which served as statements of purpose for Tesla, spelling out CEO Elon Musk's strategic vision and explaining the rationale behind certain decisions. The first plan, released in 2006, laid out Tesla's ambition to make a high-end electric sports car that would help drum up interest in battery-powered vehicles and help finance more affordable models. The second came a decade later, soon after Tesla offered to buy home-solar company SolarCity in 2016. That document described Tesla's rationale for seeking to acquire the solar firm, where Musk served as chairman. It also explained Tesla's efforts to develop autonomous vehicles and, eventually, enter the ride-hailing business. The company has yet to release an autonomous vehicle.
Tesla shareholders have expressed concern recently about how much attention Musk is paying to the car maker, a worry driven in part by the CEO's acquisition last year of social-media company Twitter Inc. However, the company used Wednesday's event to showcase its bench strength and reassure investors that the company is on track to achieve its goals.
Article from WSJ: Elon Musk Confirms Mexico Factory Plan in Mapping Out Costly Vision for Tesla (https://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-investor-day-2023-elon-musk-3b4e3da0?mod=latest_headlines)
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