- In revealing first-quarter results, Tesla has recorded a rare and significant drop in revenue, citing various industry pressures.
- The EV maker has doubled down on autonomous tech, also saying it will launch new models starting in the second half of 2025.
- Tesla has worked to quell some market unease over its focus on tech like the Optimus robot and the long-promised self-driving systems, but details regarding new models remain sketchy.
In revealing its first-quarter results, Tesla provided some rare hints as to the evolution of its lineup, which has recently seen a couple of refreshes and the start of Cybertruck deliveries, albeit paired with a slightly worrying recall.
Overall, Tesla had a challenging start to the year, with the automaker acknowledging the arson attack in Berlin as well as global shipping issues. Tesla still posted $1.2 billion in operating profit, missing earnings estimates while also seeing a 9% drop in revenue, which was quickly noted by analysts to represent the biggest drop in revenue for the EV maker since 2012.
What’s more, Tesla said it could see “notably lower” vehicle volume growth in 2024.
“Our company is currently between two major growth waves: The first one began with the global expansion of the Model 3/Y platform, and we believe the next one will be initiated by advances in autonomy and introduction of new products, including those built on our next-generation vehicle platform,” Tesla said in a message to its shareholders.
The EV maker is also in the midst of cutting more than 10% of its workforce, news of which has contributed to a significant drop in its stock price since the start of the year.
Still, the automaker had a few positive notes to share with investors and industry analysts, giving some hints as to its future product cadence following the debut of the unconventionally styled Cybertruck.
“We have updated our future vehicle lineup to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated start of production in the second half of 2025,” Tesla said in a message to shareholders.
The past month saw quite a bit of speculation over its once-planned $25,000 car—a target which may now have fallen victim to inflation in the time that Tesla spent working on it. Earlier in April Tesla pushed back against a report that the $25,000 car had been canceled, but did not provide a detailed update on its current status.
Perhaps sensing market unease, Tesla has now openly confirmed it is working on new vehicle models.
“These new vehicles, including more affordable models, will utilize aspects of the next-generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms, and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle lineup.”
However, Tesla did not indicate just how much more affordable these vehicles would be compared to ones in its current portfolio.
The automaker also did not indicate whether the new models would be in entirely new segments, or whether new models could be redesigns of the older offerings like the Model S and the Model X, with the former platform being a decade old.
Tesla also acknowledged the observed slowdown in EV demand experienced by automakers over the past year and a half.
“Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs. While positive for our regulatory credits business, we prefer the industry to continue pushing EV adoption, which is in line with our mission,” Tesla added.
The EV maker also reiterated its focus on autonomous tech, with plans reconfirmed by CEO Elon Musk earlier this spring to reveal a robotaxi later in 2024.
However, Tesla did not indicate just what this new model could look like in concept form, or when a production version could be expected. Additionally, it is not clear who would end up owning and deploying the robotaxis.
Tesla said the new robotaxi would be built on a new “unboxed” manufacturing method that aims to cut car production costs by having large parts pre-assembled away from the assembly line, and joined at the last moment.
“The future is not only electric, but also autonomous. We believe scaled autonomy is only possible with data from millions of vehicles and an immense AI training cluster,” the automaker said, referencing its abrupt turn toward neural networks instead of code in training its autonomous software.
Still, one of Tesla’s next new products is expected to be a humanoid robot—an item in which current EV owners, or investors for that matter, may or may not see much utility.
Will Tesla need all-new vehicle models soon, or does the current lineup only need periodic updates? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.
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