Tesla Inc reported lower-than-expected profits on Wednesday, but confirmed key benchmarks for this year, saying it will return to sales volume growth and move forward with fully autonomous driving.
The results capped a mixed year for Tesla in which CEO Musk’s big bet on US electoral politics was countered by profit pressures as the electric car company’s streak of annual car volume growth came to an end.
Tesla reported fourth-quarter profit of US$2.3 billion, down 71 percent from the year-ago quarter, where profit was boosted by a one-time tax benefit.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Revenue rose 2 percent to US$25.7 billion, also missing analyst estimates, but reflecting a more than doubling of sales in energy generation and storage.
Musk has sought to temper expectations about Tesla’s near-term financial growth, while employing superlatives in touting Tesla’s autonomous driving and robotic ventures, saying they could make Tesla “the most valuable company in the world by far,” worth more than the “next five companies combined.”
The company has been confronted by intensifying electric vehicle competition in leading markets, including China and the US, where General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co have introduced more models.
Another factor has been lower sales than expected from the Cybertruck, Musk’s futuristic auto giant that has won cheers from Tesla fans and jeers from critics.
However, Tesla expects growth this year, saying in its earnings release that “with the advancements in vehicle autonomy and the introduction of new products, we expect the vehicle business to return to growth in 2025.”
The company confirmed plans to unveil new, more affordable vehicles this year and said its launch of a new robotaxi venture in parts of the US was on track to begin this year.
Tesla named its driver-assistance programs “autopilot” and “full self-driving” (FSD), even though the programs require the driver to maintain attention, while rival robotaxi venture Waymo has achieved full driverless functionality in three US cities so far.
Musk has repeatedly missed earlier targets towards full autonomy, quipping during the conference call on Wednesday that he was like the boy who cried wolf.
“But I’m telling you, there’s a damn wolf this time, and you can drive it,” Musk said. “In fact, it can drive you. It’s a self-driving wolf.”
Musk said he intends to launch FSD as a paid service in Austin, Texas this year, where the company also plans to introduce robotaxi services.
“Teslas will be in the wild,” he said, describing a gradual expansion of service once the company can demonstrate its autonomous service is “unequivocally safer” than a human driver.
During the call, Musk’s most overtly political comment concerned what he described as the cumbersome process to introduce FSD in Europe, calling Europe “a layer cake of regulations and bureaucracy, which really needs to be addressed.”
Shares of Tesla rose 4.4 percent in after-hours trading.
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