On April 24th, the topic of "Tesla was exposed to breaking the contract with fresh graduates" appeared on Weibo hot search, and a number of fresh graduates said on social platforms that they were unilaterally terminated by Tesla after getting the job offer.
Previously, Musk laid off more than 10% of his global workforce, but foreign media revealed that he had hoped to cut Tesla's number of employees by 20%. Musk believes that this proportion is comparable to Tesla's sales decline from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. Tesla's vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell 20.1% quarter-on-quarter to less than 386,800 units, the worst quarterly performance since 2022.
Recently, with the advent of Xiaomi SU 7, the new power of domestic electric cars has once again ushered in strong competitors, and Xiaomi's new cars will undoubtedly divert a lot of purchasing power, so various car companies have reduced prices to deal with it, and the competition is fierce again. Tesla has also successively offered preferential policies such as fee reductions and zero down payment to attract new users. According to the financial report data, Tesla's revenue in the Chinese market reached 21.75 billion US dollars, equivalent to about 194.85 billion yuan, accounting for 22.5% of the total revenue.
Tram giants also need to "reduce costs and increase efficiency"
Recently, a user said on social media that "Tesla withdraws all offers for fresh graduates and will give a one-month liquidated damages." However, the user also said that the current spring recruitment is basically over, the entrance to find a job has been basically closed, and he "was laid off before he went to work".
In fact, Tesla has already foreshadowed the "start" of graduates. As early as April 15, Musk informed employees that Tesla would lay off more than 10% of its workforce globally, citing "duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas." In other words, Tesla has 140,000 employees worldwide, and at least 14,000 employees will lose their jobs. In a letter to employees, he wrote: "There's nothing more annoying to me than layoffs, but I have to. This will allow us to streamline, innovate, and aspire to the next growth cycle. ”
On April 18, Musk said in an email: "In the process of restructuring Tesla, I noticed that some severance payments were unreasonably low. I apologize for the mistake. We are making immediate corrections. A person familiar with the matter said that Tesla's layoff compensation ranges from N+1 to N+3, and N+3 will be given after the negotiation on the same day.
In terms of U.S. factories, Tesla reportedly plans to lay off more than 6,000 workers in Texas and California, including 2,688 workers in Austin, where Tesla has a major factory. According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) filed with the Texas Workforce Commission, the layoffs will begin June 14 for a period of 14 days. Tesla also revealed plans to lay off 3,332 workers at multiple California factories, according to the WARN notice filed with California.
However, according to Xinhua News Agency, citing Bloomberg, Tesla may have laid off more people than previously thought. People familiar with Tesla's plans told Bloomberg that the layoffs could exceed 20,000. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Musk had hoped to cut Tesla's headcount by 20 percent. Musk believes that this proportion is comparable to Tesla's sales decline from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. Previously, according to relevant data, Tesla's vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell 20.1% quarter-on-quarter to less than 386,800 units. This is Tesla's worst quarterly performance since 2022.
In terms of finance, after the U.S. stock market on Tuesday, Tesla released its financial report for the first quarter of 2024, with Tesla's revenue of $21.3 billion in the first quarter, down 9% year-on-year, and net profit falling sharply by 55% to $1.1 billion from $2.5 billion a year ago.
Lower-than-expected operating data also affected the share price. As of April 23, Tesla closed at $144.68, down more than 40% this year, and a retracement of more than 62% from the previous historical high of more than $400, which looks out of place among the new highs of the US stock market.
"Swept up" by a new domestic force?
Recently, with the advent of Xiaomi SU 7, the new power of domestic electric cars has once again ushered in strong competitors, and Xiaomi's new cars will undoubtedly divert a lot of purchasing power, so various car companies have reduced prices to deal with it, and the competition is fierce again.
On April 20, Xpeng Motors officially announced that from now until May 5, 2024, it will launch a time-limited car purchase subsidy of 500 million yuan, covering a total of four models of Xpeng G9, G6, P7i, and 2024 Xpeng P5.
On April 19, Aion announced that the price of AION V Plus will be reduced by 10,000 yuan, and 140,000 yuan will be able to enjoy a 500,000-level luxury car configuration. This is the third time Aion has announced a price cut recently: on April 15, AION Y Plus cut prices by 10,000 yuan (excluding Y Plus 310 Xingyao), and on April 17, AION S MAX officially reduced 10,000 yuan.
On April 21, Tesla China announced a price cut of 14,000 yuan for all models of Model 3, Y, S and X, of which the starting price of the Model 3 rear-wheel drive version has dropped to 231,900 yuan.
On April 24, Tesla China announced that both Model 3 and Model Y can enjoy a preferential policy of zero down payment.
Greater China is undoubtedly a strategic point for Tesla, with revenue from the Chinese market reaching US$21.75 billion in 2023, equivalent to about 194.85 billion yuan, accounting for 22.5% of total revenue.
In addition to the price cuts, Stephanie Stretti, director of the "Industry Insight" department of Tesla's Cox Automotive Consulting in the United States, explained on Monday that "everyone is expecting what Tesla boss Elon Musk will say" about Tesla's strategy, as well as the sales of new models in China. "They should tell us what the plan is," she said. ”
Tesla also said on Tuesday that it intends to build low-cost electric vehicles "as quickly as possible." In a video conference with analysts, Tesla's management said that the low-cost electric vehicle program would be accelerated to bring it to market "as quickly as possible." Analysts believe that Tesla may "rejuvenate" with a new model called the Model 2, which could cost around $25,000.
Musk explained to analysts: "We are updating our EV plans to accelerate the launch of new models that have been designed, and we originally planned to launch them in the second half of 2025." Now, we intend to launch it by the end of the year or early 2025. ”
Tesla also expects Tesla's sales growth in 2024 to be "significantly lower" than in 2023 before these plans are implemented, indicating that the EV market is always "under pressure."
Editor-in-charge: Wang Lulu
Proofreading: Tao Qian