Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a political supporter of former President Donald Trump, but what a potential Trump administration might mean for the electric car maker that pays Musk billions of dollars is unclear — even to Musk himself.
during Call with financial analysts On Tuesday, Wells Fargo CEO Colin Langan asked Musk to explain the impact of Trump’s victory and the potential obliteration of $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles.
“I think this will have some impact, it will be devastating to our competitors, it will hurt Tesla a little bit,” Musk said.
The CEO also suggested that since Trump has promised to impose steep tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico, Tesla would back away from investing in a factory it had planned to open in Monterrey in 2026. “If that’s the case, we need to see how that plays out politically,” he said. Musk yesterday denied reports that he would pump $45 million a month into Trump’s campaign.
talk about cnbc Prior to the earnings call, Technical Analyst at Wedbush Securities Dan Ives He said that a Trump presidency could be negative for the electric car market in general because Trump could destroy Inflation Reduction Act And with it Tax breaks for electric cars and some plug-in hybrids mean that the new administration led by presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris could be positive for the electric vehicle industry.
However, Trump may be better on the regulatory agenda needed to promote full self-driving and autonomy, a key element of Tesla’s growth strategy, Ives said.
“Musk has been background noise under the Biden administration and under the Trump administration, so is this going to be something more important and central? That’s why I say Tesla is part of the Trump business,” Ives said.
Musk dismissed the idea that regulators might reject a fleet of Tesla’s self-driving robotaxi cars that lack steering wheels and pedals. One analyst asked Musk to explain why regulatory risks weren’t an issue for Tesla when General Motors discontinued its steering-wheel-less Origin in favor of the Chevrolet Bolt. Partly because of the organization. Cruise Origin’s self-driving vehicle will need approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because it doesn’t have traditional manual controls like a steering wheel and pedals, which are required under current safety regulations, which are written for cars with human drivers and not fully autonomous vehicles.
“The main reason for the shift from Origin to Bolt is that we eliminate regulatory risk,” GM CEO Mary Barra said, according to a report from Origin. Reuters a report.
“The real reason the project was canceled is because GM couldn’t do it,” Musk said, adding that the automaker’s technology was “not up to the mark.” He said blaming regulators was “misguided.”
Jim Cain, CEO of General Motors, said: luck Mask is completely wrong.
“All of these statements are categorically false,” said Kane, who listened to Musk’s comments during the earnings call. “The Origin vehicle faced a lot of hurdles in getting certified because it doesn’t have a steering wheel, it doesn’t have a brake pedal, and it has a unique seat design that requires a federal exemption from the Motor Vehicle Safety Act — period.”
Cruise’s technology is getting better every day because of the way it leverages its dataset with artificial intelligence, Kane said. “To date, Cruise vehicles have driven more than 5 million fully autonomous miles, while Tesla vehicles have driven exactly zero miles.”
Musk has an unwavering belief in Tesla’s ability to “solve the problem of autonomy,” something he reiterated Tuesday, even as Tesla announced plans to expand the range of its self-driving cars. Announced financial results Tesla reported a 45% drop in net profit, marking a second quarter of slow growth and the fourth straight quarter of quarterly earnings declines. Auto industry data also showed Tesla continuing to lose ground in California, where sales fell 24% in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Trump has vowed to end what he calls the “Green New Deal,” promising to “repeal the electric vehicle mandate on day one.”
If autonomy is Tesla’s strategic future, Ives said, it may be beneficial for Tesla to have less regulation, which is more likely under a Trump presidency than under a Harris presidency.
“What may come as a big surprise to investors is the impact the company has on the robotics market and its efforts in full self-driving and autonomy,” Ives said, adding that eventually the company could reach a valuation of $1 trillion or even $2 trillion.
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