Elon Musk, Tesla Stock, and Twitter Problems

The day before Thanksgiving, Tesla is in trouble. The electric car maker’s stock has fallen more than 50% since the beginning of the year. And now the company’s whimsical CEO, Elon Musk, is preoccupied with a new $44 billion toy: Twitter.

Tesla has earned a reputation as a luxury EV maker and as an investment opportunity. But the company’s troubles seem to be getting worse, and more customers and shareholders are taking notice.Over the last few weeks there have been some critical posts Tesla build quality Hundreds of thousands of Tesla vehicles have been recalled due to social media attention. (The OTA update addresses two of the company’s most recent calls: the vehicle’s taillight and passenger airbag issues.) So, Mr. Musk has set Twitter on fire, and he’s been putting other companies on fire. SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink — Tesla’s reputation seems to be taking a hit while it’s busy running and running.

Let’s start with the mask itself. Following the Twitter acquisition, some experts and analysts fear Musk’s new job could undermine his responsibilities as Tesla’s CEO and contribute to the stock’s plunge. . Musk also financed much of his Twitter acquisition deal by selling his own Tesla stake, allowing more than 50 of his engineers at Tesla to work for his Twitter during the acquisition last month. Also remember what you did. At the same time, Tesla is now facing a lawsuit alleging that Musk’s 2018 compensation package was improperly influenced by the personal relationship between the Tesla board and Musk. (also referred to as a “part-time CEO.”) Over the past year or so, several lawsuits related to the workplace have been filed, including lawsuits alleging sexual harassment, racism, and a “toxic” work culture. was filed against the company. .

There are also problems with the car itself. Build quality has been a consistent criticism of Tesla, and a reliability study released this month by Consumer His Reports found that the company continues to have issues with its bodywork, steering system, and more. Repairing Tesla remains a major hurdle, as Recode’s investigation revealed last summer. The challenge is so significant that GM claimed in a recent investor presentation that the dealer said he had repaired more than 11,000 Tesla vehicles since last year. Earlier this month, his TikTok video documenting the build quality of his one Tesla, including the rocking trunk lid, got more than 4 million views.

Consumer Reports data analyst Steven Elek said in a statement: In a recent reliability study, owners reported issues with body hardware, paint and trim on Model S, Model 3 and Model Y. A flaw I’ve heard from Tesla owners. ”

Then there’s the Tesla recall, with a total of 19 recalls since the beginning of the year (for reference, GM has 25 and Ford has 63, but they make many more cars. increase). In addition to last week’s recall, the company issued recalls in November for some vehicles for power steering problems, and in February for other vehicles that may ignore stop signs. Did.

Many of these recalls were issued without the vehicle experiencing widespread safety issues and did not require any physical modifications to the vehicle. Instead they are handled by wireless updates. This essentially allows Tesla to perform necessary repairs through internet downloads. These fixes are obviously easier to complete than bringing the vehicle in for repair or replacing it entirely. Yet, as Recode has previously explained, this kind of recall is so easy to deal with that it can also create a cycle of regulators constantly racing to keep up with dangerous software.

Tesla’s plans to become a self-driving car company don’t seem to be going too well either. Elon Musk is still touting Tesla’s so-called fully self-driving software, even as other companies pull back on their self-driving car aspirations in the economic downturn — the beta version of the company’s system will eventually outperform. It should be available to many Tesla owners this year.

And now Tesla faces yet another lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed in September by the owner, alleges that Musk misled customers as to how far the technology could go and how functional it could be. Reuters reported in October that the Justice Department was investigating Tesla’s technology, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has also launched an investigation. At the same time, an initiative called the Dawn Project is calling for a ban on Tesla’s fully self-driving software. To support its efforts, the project released videos and advertisements to highlight the dangers of Tesla’s technology, including a television campaign showing Tesla knocking over a child mannequin. The automaker recently sent a cease and desist letter in response.

Oh, and Tesla’s competitors are starting to pose more threats. The company remains the darling of the nascent EV industry, but companies like Ford and his GM are racing to ramp up production ahead of Tesla. Startups like Lucid and Rivian are also trying to beat Elon Musk’s car in the luxury market.

These companies probably don’t care that Musk is now spending his time reviving Donald Trump’s Twitter account and posting memes. Recode editor Adam Clark Estes wrote when news of Musk’s acquisition was first announced: Tesla’s boss is absent. time to play. “

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