Tesla issued an all-staff letter, announcing a 10% global layoff. As of December 2023, Tesla has more than 140,000 employees, and according to this calculation, Tesla's layoffs will exceed 14,000.
At the beginning of this year, Tesla just announced a wage increase, raising the wages of factory workers from 22 US dollars (about 160 yuan) per hour to a maximum of 39 US dollars (about 280 yuan).
However, just over two months after the salary increase, Tesla announced a 10% layoff, which is really surprising.
Tesla responded that the layoffs were due to the slowdown in market demand for electric vehicles and the increasing competition, which ultimately forced Tesla to lay off employees in order to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency.
On the one hand, the number of Tesla hires continues to decline, in 2022, Tesla added 29,000 new employees, and by 2023, this number has dropped to 12,000.
On the other hand, the growth rate of Tesla's car deliveries declined, while the delivery volume of rival BYD cars grew rapidly.
In 2022, Tesla delivered 1.313 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 40%, but did not achieve the target of 50%, and in 2023, Tesla delivered 1.8 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 38%, which is worthy of the performance target.
Deliveries in the first quarter of 2024 were only 386,800 units, down both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, marking the first quarter-on-quarter decline since 2020.
In 2022, BYD delivered a total of 1.868 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 152.46%, becoming the global new energy champion, and in 2023, it delivered 3.02 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 62.3%, continuing to widen the gap with Tesla.
However, these data only reflect a superficial picture, and what is the deeper question?
Tesla has also experienced a period of rapid growth, and this rapid development has also made Tesla's stock price soar, and finally sent Musk to the richest man.
In recent years, Tesla has opened a number of factories around the world, and has also hired a large number of workers, technical talents, and managers.
When high-speed growth does not exist, all sorts of problems arise, the most typical of which is bloated personnel. There are many areas within Tesla that have the problem of repetitive roles and work intelligence, and of course, there is no shortage of "mixed eating and drinking".
So, it's only natural for companies to lay off these people to reduce costs, increase productivity, and prepare for the next phase of growth.
The layoffs even include two senior vice presidents, one for Tesla's energy and powertrain, and the other for public policy and business.
Two more executives have left Tesla.
They said they were leaving Tesla because of the overall change in the company, but declined to say what the specifics were, and the decision was tough.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X thanking them for the time they spent at the company.
In fact, Musk realized the problem in the field of new energy vehicles as early as 2023, or even earlier, China is where Tesla's large factories are located, but there are also Tesla's strongest competitors here.
He believes that in the future, among the world's top ten new energy vehicles, in addition to Tesla, the other nine will be Chinese automobile companies, and this view is basically not wrong.
In the whole process of new energy vehicles, the Chinese government has taken the most positive attitude, come up with a practical implementation plan, and put it into action.
European and American countries are different, they are not active in new energy vehicles, a large part of the reason is that they have a huge advantage in traditional fuel vehicles.
The United States is the country with the largest number of cars per capita in the world, known as the "country on wheels", and GM and Ford in the United States are still among the top ten car companies in the world, with sales of more than 10 million units in 2023.
Almost every adult in the United States owns a car, and it is the country with the largest number of cars, forming a unique car culture and generating a considerable automobile economy.
The United States also gave birth to Detroit, the first automobile city, where 40 percent of the city's workforce worked in the auto industry, but now it is bankrupt.
Of course, these advantages are mainly concentrated in fuel vehicles, and the United States does not have an advantage in the field of new energy vehicles.
In terms of the most core power battery, CATL and BYD ranked first and second, and the third place was South Korea's LG, among the top ten manufacturers, China occupied 6 seats, and the United States was 0.
The only company in the world that has mastered the three-electric technology is China's BYD, and Tesla can't do it.
At present, Shanghai, Suzhou, Ningbo and other Yangtze River Delta regions have formed a whole industry chain of new energy vehicles such as batteries, vehicle-grade chips, autonomous driving, precision machining, and automotive interiors.
This industrial chain is basically the world's largest and most complete new energy vehicle industry chain.
With the industrial chain, Xiaomi can create cost-effective electric vehicles, without an industrial chain, the rich Apple company reluctantly announced the abandonment of new energy vehicles after investing 250 billion funds.
95% of the parts of Tesla's Model 3, Model Y and other models made in Shanghai are made in China.
At the same time, China has a large number of skilled workers in the field of new energy vehicles, who are smart, skilled, hard-working, and experienced, because the industrial chain is large enough, and we have also given birth to many cutting-edge technical talents and management talents.
These are all things that American automobiles do not have, "you have to practice more dishes, and you have to learn if you don't know how to cook", and the things that elementary school students know, put on American auto workers, but they don't work.
In September 2023, American auto workers held a general strike, demanding a 36% pay increase, a four-day work week, an increase in retirement pay, an increase in paid holidays, and more.
On the surface, this is the desire of auto workers to get better treatment, but the deeper reason is actually the resistance of traditional auto workers to the electrification and intelligence of the automotive industry.
They are not worried that such heavy labor costs will drag down car companies, they are more concerned about whether they will lose their jobs and go bankrupt in the transition to electrification.
Senator Bernie Sanders publicly told General Motors CEO Ms. Bora: Do you know what it's like for a worker to survive on $17 an hour?
President Joe Biden also sided with the workers for re-election, saying that record corporate profits should be shared with union workers.
Workers are on strike, the government is not supportive, and no matter how good the car companies are, they cannot realize the transformation of new energy vehicles, so the United States has postponed the process of car electrification.
On the surface, Tesla has reduced its competitors in the United States, but in reality, there is no motivation without pressure. In order to further protect domestic U.S. automakers, Biden also signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which blocked the entry of Chinese automakers such as BYD.
Without BYD's "catfish", the electric vehicle industry chain in the United States will only be more difficult to improve and establish.
On the other hand, China's new energy vehicle companies have manufactured a large number of high-performance and low-price electric vehicles by relying on low labor costs, perfect industrial chains, and technological innovation and iteration.
At the beginning of the year, BYD shouted the price of electric cars to 79,800, and Xiaomi's SU7 claimed to have more advantages than Tesla Model 3, and the price was 20,000 lower.
Under the pressure of BYD, Tesla also felt a chill and finally made up its mind to lay off 10% of its workforce.
Tesla's layoffs can be said to be a manifestation of prosperity and decline, or it can be said to be a temporary adjustment, and it is difficult to say whether it can take off again in the future, after all, China's new energy vehicle companies are strong enough, with a complete industrial chain, leading technology, skilled technicians, and more advantages in terms of cost.
With the acceleration of BYD's exports and the increase of production capacity, China's new energy vehicles will inevitably usher in real glory, while Tesla's market share will only be more difficult.
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