Suddenly announced: Tesla will lay off more than 14,000 employees! Musk: Difficult decision! The executive who has worked for 18 years is also leaving, and the company's stock price has plummeted
According to Xinhua News Agency, American media reported on the 15th that Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an internal email to employees that the company will lay off more than 10% of its global workforce to cut costs and improve productivity. Based on Tesla's global workforce, the layoffs affect more than 14,000 employees.
According to Beijing Business Daily, in this regard, a person close to Tesla told reporters that Tesla employees have indeed received an internal email and will lay off 10% of their global workforce.
On the 15th local time, Tesla's stock price fell sharply, as of press time, Tesla's stock price was $164.21, down 4%, with a total market value of $523 billion.
Tesla lays off 10% of its global workforce
Elon Musk: Difficult decision
Regarding this round of layoffs, Musk said in an internal email that he was "preparing for the next growth phase cycle".
Musk said in the email that Tesla's "rapid growth" has led to "duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas." "To prepare for the next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at all aspects of the company to reduce costs and increase productivity. ”
Musk said that after a thorough review, a difficult decision was made to reduce the number of employees worldwide by more than 10%. He said this will allow the company to remain lean, innovate and enter the next growth cycle.
When talking about Tesla's future, Musk said that Tesla is working on some of the most revolutionary technologies in the fields of automobiles, energy and artificial intelligence.
As early as February this year, Tesla broke the news of layoffs, and Tesla executives were asked to identify the "most important roles" in the team and postpone performance reviews for some employees.
On the morning of April 15, it was reported that Tesla employees said that Tesla will carry out a round of large-scale layoffs in the near future, which will involve 20% of employees. This is not the first time Tesla has laid off employees. It is understood that in 2017, Tesla said that it would reduce the number of employees by 2%. Since then, Tesla has also laid off employees in 2018, 2019 and 2022.
According to the Associated Press, Tesla's senior vice president, Drew Baglino, will leave the company. Drew Baglino posted on the social media platform "X" on the 15th that he had made a difficult decision to leave Tesla after 18 years. Over the years, I've been so grateful to have worked with and learned from the countless talented people at Tesla.
It is reported that Baglino is one of Tesla's earliest employees, and he has worked closely with Tesla co-founder and long-time chief technology officer JB Straubel. At the time, he became the company's de facto most senior engineering leader, responsible for batteries, motors, drive units, power electronics and energy products, arguably the core of Tesla's business. Baglino also co-hosted Tesla's earnings call with Musk and shared the stage at several events, including Tesla's Investor Day more than a year ago.
In addition, according to Yicai, Tesla's vice president of public policy, Rohan Patel, will also leave the company.
Q1 delivery data may be the "last straw"
Tesla is ready to open up the Indian market
The market generally believes that the main reason for Tesla's slowdown in hiring and this layoff is also the slowdown or even decline in the growth of its sales. Tesla's delivery data for the first quarter of 2024 released on April 2 may be the "last straw that breaks the camel's back".
According to data released by Tesla, the company produced more than 433,000 vehicles and delivered about 387,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2024, which fell short of market expectations and was the first year-on-year decline in recent years.
Among them, 369783 Model 3/Y deliveries were delivered, down 10% year-on-year, with an estimated 426,940 units. Tesla explained that the decline in sales was partly due to the early stages of production of the upgraded Model 3 at the Fremont plant and the shutdown of the factory due to geopolitical transportation diversions.
According to the Shanghai Securities News, Robert W. Baird analyst Ben Kallo recently said that Tesla's sales in the second quarter may decline again after an unexpected decline in sales in the first quarter of 2024.
Kallo wrote in the research report that Tesla is still facing the problem of a relatively high base this quarter. He expects Tesla to deliver 444,510 vehicles in the second quarter, down 4.6% from a year earlier. "There's no denying that the demand environment has changed. Kallo said.
Regarding Musk's announcement that he will release a robotaxis on August 8, Kallo believes that based on past experience, this news may be a boost to Tesla's stock price.
While the global market demand for Tesla models is slowing down, the fierce competition in China's new energy vehicle market is also putting pressure on Tesla. According to the data, Tesla delivered 220,900 new cars in the Chinese market in the first quarter of this year, compared with 229,300 in the first quarter of last year.
According to Beijing Business Daily, auto analyst Zhong Shi believes that the current competitive environment in the new energy vehicle market is very different from when Tesla first made China. In the early days, Tesla seized the market opportunity to quickly increase sales, but at present, its own brands continue to accelerate product research and development, rapid iteration of models, and prices continue to fall, which diverts Tesla's model sales to a certain extent.
Compared with the speed of its own brand, Tesla is slightly slower. At present, Tesla has a total of five models on sale, namely Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X and Cybertruck. Among them, the Model series has maintained a lineup of four models for many years, and although the Model "SX" has launched a Plaid version of the model, and the Model "3Y" has launched a new model, the outside world believes that Tesla's new model is not complete. Industry insiders believe that for Chinese consumers who are accustomed to intelligent assisted driving and "refrigerators, color TVs, and large sofas", the attractiveness of Tesla models is weakening.
In fact, Musk has also admitted that if there are no trade barriers, Chinese car companies can kill most of the world's car companies.
It is reported that Tesla is seeking to achieve sales breakthroughs in more markets around the world. There is news that Tesla is looking at potential showroom locations in New Delhi and Mumbai, India, and plans to sell cars in India this year. In addition, Tesla plans to build a gigafactory in India. According to the data, electric vehicles accounted for only about 2% of total car sales in India last year. But the Indian government aims to increase the share of electric vehicles to 30% by 2030. At the same time, the Indian government has also begun to increase policy efforts to attract foreign automakers to invest and produce on a large scale to promote the development of the domestic electric vehicle industry. According to sources, the Indian government has announced that it will reduce import taxes for automakers who have pledged to invest more than $500 million in India and build local factories within three years.
Editor|Duan Lian Yi Qijiang
Proofreading|Chen Keming
The daily economic news is synthesized from Xinhua News Agency, Beijing Business Daily, Finance Associated Press, China Business News, Shanghai Securities News, public information, etc
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