What does it mean that Tesla doesn't have a new model? There is no precedent for the entire automotive industry!

Since Tesla's latest results on Wednesday, shares have surged 11 percent on Thursday, and on Friday, driven by sharp gains in shares of other star tech stocks, especially Apple, Tesla shares picked up slightly, closing up slightly by 2 percent.

On Wednesday, local time, Tesla announced its fourth-quarter financial report, with revenue and profit reaching new highs. At the same time, Tesla warns that supply chain restrictions will run through the whole of 2022 and does not expect to launch new models this year.

Although Tesla's earnings data is very eye-catching, revenue and profit are far beyond market expectations, but because investors worry about supply chain bottlenecks or become the biggest barrier to its production increase, Tesla's stock price plunged 11% the next day.

No new models this year?

On the fourth-quarter earnings call, Tesla CEO Musk said that due to the limitation of production capacity by chip shortages, new models will not be launched this year, and will go all out to solve the delivery problem, and expects that the average annual growth rate of vehicle delivery in 2022 will easily exceed 50%.

Musk said on an earnings call:

Due to the limited supply of chips, the total output of the car will be the same regardless of whether a new car is launched or not. [So] Tesla isn't going to launch a new model this year, which doesn't make any sense.

Tesla's focus this year is to expand production. We are not currently developing a $25,000 model. Although we will develop it at some point in the future, for now, Tesla's product line is rich enough.

In other words, the launch of the low-cost $25,000 model looks like it is far away, and the previously high-profile Cyberruck will have to wait until 2023 at the earliest to be expected to go into production, and the production of the next-generation Roadster has been postponed to 2023.

Musk's decision to sell a small number of models challenges the auto industry's long-standing industry law that diverse models need to be constantly and steadily updated to attract buyers.

This is a typical example of the "maverick" Tesla subverting the traditional concept of the automotive industry.

But as the competition for electric vehicles becomes more and more fierce, can Tesla still maintain super-high sales?

Can sales still be maintained?

If Tesla's goal is to increase car deliveries by 50 percent a year, it could likely deliver more than 3 million vehicles by 2024.

Based on last year's data, the Model 3 and Model Y, which account for about 97% of Tesla's total production capacity, delivered a total of 936,000 vehicles last year.

On the earnings call, Sanford Bernstein analyst Tony Saconagy issued a "soul torture" question to Musk:

There is really no precedent for selling 1.5 million cars a year for a single model, let alone two from the same company.

Without the development of a low-priced $25,000 model, can the ambitious vision of selling more than 3 million cars in 2024 with the existing product portfolio and Cyberteruck alone be realistic?

Musk dismissed that concern, saying the analyst was not fully aware of self-driving technology.

Musk believes that over time, driverless technology will make Tesla's cars more attractive, and Tesla's high sales can be maintained regardless of whether new cars are launched or not.

But after the earnings call, Tesla's decision to delay production was immediately questioned by the market, reflecting a plunge of more than 11% in the stock price the next day.

Barclays analyst Brian Johnson believes that the goal of car companies is usually to make major updates of 10 to 15 percent of the models every year.

Some analysts said Tesla's focus on increasing production of existing models could help it increase profits this year, but delaying the release of new models could ultimately make it more vulnerable to industry competition.

The Wall Street Journal quoted U.S. market information firm J.D. Tyson Giomini, Power's vice president of data analytics, said:

Every day Tesla waits, a new car will appear.

It is worth mentioning that if Tesla's Cyberruck electric pickup truck is not expected to be listed in 2022, Then Ford and General Motors may "blossom".

Ford and General Motors recently unveiled their first electric pickup truck.

Ford said it was ready to deliver the all-electric F-150 Lighting pickup in the first half of this year.

Bank of America said GM aims to launch 30 new electric vehicles worldwide by 2025.

What is the impact of the supply shortage?

Tesla mentioned in its shareholder letter that "production bottlenecks and supply chain challenges are still major issues at present," which seems to scare investors in the current environment.

Gene Munster, managing partner of venture capital firm Loup Ventures, said the earnings report shows that Tesla's current business is in very good shape, but as a high-market capitalization company, when there are unknowns in the future, it will make investors a little scared.

Analysts believe that whether Tesla's production capacity doubles as scheduled is a key factor affecting the stock price in the short term. Dan Ives, a Wedbush analyst who has been bullish on Tesla, said:

Whether production can increase will be a key factor affecting Tesla's stock price in the coming months, and Tesla's two New Del factories are expected to produce hundreds of thousands of cars this year.