Tesla CEO Elon Musk Says 'Going Balls To The Wall' For Autonomous Driving Is 'Blindingly Obvious' As Everything Else Is 'Like Variations On A Horse Carriage'

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday reiterated his conviction that vehicle autonomy will be the key driver of the company.

What Happened: Dedicating to autonomous driving is a “blindly obvious move” for Tesla, the CEO said in a post on X.

“Not quite betting the company, but going balls to the wall for autonomy is a blindingly obvious move,” Musk wrote. “Everything else is like variations on a horse carriage.”

Model 2 In The Limbo: Earlier this month, Musk announced that the company would unveil its robotaxi on Aug. 8. The announcement came on the heels of a Reuters report that the company intends to drop its lower-cost EV expected to be priced at around $25,000 but will continue to make self-driving robotaxis on the same platform. Musk, however, denied the report without stating specific inaccuracies. 

Analysts are in two minds about the matter. While Gene Munster, the managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, previously said that focussing on autonomous vehicles is the right move for the company, The Future Fund LLC Managing Partner Gary Black is of the opinion that focussing on robotaxis and putting the low-cost EV in the backseat would be "very risky."

Musk has been touting the idea of autonomous Tesla vehicles functioning as a robotaxi since as far back as 2019. In June 2023, Musk even identified vehicle autonomy as the main driver of the brand’s market value.

"The value of the company is primarily based on autonomy," Musk stated at the VivaTech conference in Paris. "That's really, I think, the main driver of our value."

Job Cuts To “Streamline:” Tesla on Monday laid off about 14,000 or 10% of its global workforce to cut costs and remove the duplication of roles.

"About every 5 years, we need to reorganize and streamline the company for the next phase of growth," Musk said on X about the sweeping job cuts. He also liked a post on X which stated that he is re-entering "wartime CEO mode" and focusing the company entirely on its robotaxi project. 

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