Musk announced Tesla's layoffs, causing a global uproar!
This incident is really unexpected by many people. As a leader in the field of new energy vehicles, Tesla has always been regarded as an industry flag. But just recently, Musk suddenly announced that he would lay off 10% of his workforce, affecting more than 14,000 employees.
It is no wonder that as soon as this news came out, there was a global ramp of abuse. After all, for a popular company, large-scale layoffs are undoubtedly a sign of decline. Many people are confused, what's wrong with Tesla?
After careful analysis, the reasons behind it are not difficult to understand. To put it bluntly, Tesla has encountered two major crises: first, the crazy impact of China's new energy vehicle companies; Second, its own new car research and development efforts have slowed down and cannot keep up with the pace of the times.
Let's look at the first reason. In recent years, domestic new energy vehicle companies have sprung up, and their product strength and pricing strategies have had a huge impact on Tesla. Taking BYD as an example, the price of the standard version of its "Qin" series models has exceeded the 100,000 mark and entered the 80,000 yuan range.
80,000 yuan, but it is nearly half cheaper than the Model 3! In contrast, Tesla's high-priced positioning has not suffered a big loss? According to the news, Tesla has been forced to abandon the planned $25,000 low-priced Model 2 because it cannot withstand the fierce competition in the Chinese market.
In fact, the Model 2 was supposed to be a buyer's car that Tesla was preparing to meet the challenges of the low-end market. Unexpectedly, before the foundation was laid, the process was directly cut off by China's opponents. This undoubtedly gave Tesla a slap in the face, and it became Musk's helpless move to lay off employees and increase efficiency.
In addition to the crazy attack of Chinese car companies, another major hidden danger of Tesla is the slowdown in its own new car research and development efforts. Everyone knows Tesla's two most popular models, Model 3 and Model Y, but did you know that they have been on the market for 7 years and 4 years respectively?
In contrast, domestic new energy vehicle companies can be described as endless, with new models on the market almost every month, keeping up with market hotspots and consumer demand. Tesla is obviously lagging behind in the rhythm of new cars, except for some small facelifts, it is difficult for people to see the figure of the new masterpiece.
In this situation, it is difficult for Tesla to create new explosive models in the original field, which is equivalent to losing the temporary innovation advantage of its opponents. So, fundamentally, the layoffs make sense and reflect Tesla's immediate needs.
Although layoffs can alleviate cost pressures to a certain extent, Tesla needs to fundamentally promote self-innovation in order to get out of the quagmire. Therefore, Musk has set his sights on autonomous driving, a growing hotspot for future mobility.
Recently, Musk suddenly announced that he will release a driverless taxi Robotaxi on August 8. This is undoubtedly a blockbuster blow in Tesla's transformation to autonomous driving, which is intended to enter the future travel market and challenge traditional ride-hailing companies such as Didi.
It is undeniable that autonomous driving is indeed the development trend of the future automotive industry. Once Tesla makes a breakthrough in this field, it can completely rewrite the existing travel mode and open a new track.
It's easy to say, but it's hard to practice. Autonomous driving technology is far more complex than imagined, involving artificial intelligence, sensors, 5G communication and other cutting-edge technologies, the threshold can be imagined.
Autonomous driving is by no means a problem that Musk can solve alone. There are many technology giants in the industry such as Google, Baidu, Pony.ai, etc., which have been deeply engaged in this area for many years, and it is indeed doubtful that Tesla can catch up with its rivals and achieve technological breakthroughs in a short period of time.
Moreover, even if the Robotaxi product does come as expected, it is still unknown how well it will be accepted and profitable. After all, the psychological threshold for unmanned driving is not low for ordinary people, and it is difficult to completely replace the traditional mode of manned driving in a short period of time.
Therefore, Musk's big bet on autonomous driving is certainly an important transformation for Tesla to survive and develop, but whether it can finally turn the danger into a disaster depends on Tesla's comprehensive efforts in technology, products, and marketing.
It is difficult to shake the industry pattern on his own, unless Musk can use the power of technology such as Baidu and Google to form a vertical and horizontal trend, so that he can get a share of the new track of autonomous driving.
Tesla's situation today is indeed precarious. On the one hand, the crazy attack of Chinese car companies has made it passive in the price war; On the other hand, the lack of explosive models in the new model has made it gradually fatigue in the original field. Therefore, Musk had to bet on autonomous driving to open up a new growth curve.
This transformation didn't happen overnight. Tesla needs to make breakthroughs in the field of artificial intelligence and autonomous driving to finally regain its power; At the same time, it is also necessary to maintain investment in new energy vehicles themselves, because this is still the foundation of their foothold.