Elon Musk’s remarks are certainly aimed at preventing investors from complaining about Tesla’s sales figures or margins. But, what does he really mean?
Tesla continues to produce and deliver more and more electric cars, and other of its branches are also experiencing good growth. However, Tesla’s management team prefers to warn that the company is currently in a calmer period of its development. In any case, this is the message that management decided to send to investors on January 24, 2024, during the results conference for the last quarter of 2023.
Elon Musk does not hesitate to announce that “ Tesla currently finds itself between two major waves of growth “. He nevertheless specifies that the current projects will allow Tesla to bounce back: cars, energy storage, autonomous driving (FSD 12) and other projects – such as the Optimus robot – must contribute to future success.
Good and bad in Tesla results
Despite the successive crises, which have largely shaken the automobile industry, Tesla seems to be overcoming the problems and showing an increase in volumes from year to year.
| Production | Delivery | |
|---|---|---|
| Model 3/Y | 1,775,159 | 1,739,707 |
| Model S/X and Cybertruck | 70,826 | 68,874 |
| Total | 1,845,985 | 1,808,581 |
The brand’s good production and delivery results have become a textbook case for traditional manufacturers who are struggling to display the same trend. The only brand that can now compete is Chinese. This is BYD, which Elon Musk no longer looks down on at all.
In the company’s financial results, everything is not looking good either. Margins have nevertheless fallen significantly in a few years without falling to worrying levels for the brand. They were even able to rise again in 2023 thanks to Tesla’s significant work on reducing component costs. However, it is true that Tesla was one of the only manufacturers that could compete with Ferrari with record margins, not so long ago.
Another point of friction with investors: investment and R&D spending reached records in 2023. This spending is largely justified and should quickly bear fruit.
Subscribe to the Numerama newsletter on electric mobility! It’s free, no nonsense and sent every Thursday.
In the trough of the wave, but not for long
The financial director, Vaibhav Taneja, summed up Tesla’s situation very well and agreed with Elon Musk: “There will be times when we are not growing at the same rate as before. We are between two major waves of growth. The first started with the global expansion of Model 3 and Y, and we believe the next one will be initiated with the next generation platform. »
This allows the financial director to then specify that volume growth should be lower in 2024. Production will continue to grow and sales certainly too. The teams are now focused on the launch of the new generation vehicle. The other big project for the Tesla teams is to continue their cost reduction efforts, even if those responsible also think they will reach a plateau in this mission.
It should still be remembered that Tesla has just had a record year for the automotive business, as well as in its energy division (powerwall, megapack, etc.). There is clearly no danger in anticipating a year that is a little less exceptional than the others.
Do you want to know everything about the mobility of tomorrow, from electric cars to e-bikes? Subscribe now to our Watt Else newsletter!