During Tesla’s annual shareholders meeting at the company’s new Gigafactory in Austin, TX, Musk says, “A lot has changed since 2019,” when he first unveiled, amid a frenzy of publicity, a prototype of the battery-electric Cybertruck in Los Angeles and then began collecting $99 reservations.
“The specifications and price will be different,” Musk now says, noting no one was predicting the bout of inflation that has gripped the global economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Musk, however, emphasizes the Cybertruck, with its angular, squared-off design, will be built at the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin (inset, lower left) as originally announced back in 2019. “It’s one helluva product,” he says. “It will be a great product.
The original announcement about the Cybertruck by Musk and the public’s reaction to it had a huge and immediate impact on Detroit’s automakers, who have depended on pickups for their profits for more than 30 years.
It pushed General Motors and Ford to expedite the development of their own battery-electric pickups despite reservations within those companies. The Ford F-150 Lightning is now on sale with a price tag of just under $40,000, though Ford says the price is going up because of the rising cost of materials used in EV batteries.
In addition, Ford is expanding capacity at the Lightning plant in Dearborn, MI, even as it ships finished vehicles to customers. “Take that, Elon Musk,” Ford CEO James Farley said of the Lightning during an announcement of a major investment in solar energy by Ford. (Musk responded via Twitter, “Thanks, but I already have one.”)
GM says the battery-electric version of the Chevrolet Silverado will reach the market at the beginning of 2023, and the Ram EV pickup under development by Stellantis will be ready by 2024, putting additional competitive pressure on Tesla, which seemed to own the idea of an EV pickup when the Cybertruck first appeared nearly three years ago.
Musk, however, notes Tesla has grown steadily since 2012 when it produced fewer than 3,000 vehicles. Tesla expects to build 1.5 million vehicles this year and exit 2022 with a “run rate” of 2 million vehicles annually as it continues to ramp up production at the company’s new factories in Austin and Berlin. Musk says Tesla could announce the site of the next Gigafactory later this year.
Musk at Tesla Cybertruck unveiling in 2019.
On a chart, Tesla’s growth over the past 10 years looks as if it was pulled from a presentation of the company’s projected expansion meant to get the attention of investors or venture capitalists.
“We’ve also got the highest profit margins in the industry,” Musk says, adding Tesla has enough cash on hand to finance innovation and construction of new factories.
In response to a question during the annual meeting, Musk says he and Tesla’s board have not ruled out a stock buyback.
Tesla has more than enough material to support the production of the battery cells required to produce1.5 million battery-powered vehicles although, Musk says, “The supplies are getting tighter.”
Musk says he is nevertheless optimistic about the opportunity for Tesla to grow. “I think Tesla will be the most valuable company in the world. I think it has a very bright future,” he says.
According to companiesmarketcap.com, Tesla is the world’s sixth most-valuable company with a market capitalization of $903.8 billion. No.1 Apple’s market cap is $2.71 trillion.
时间表一直在推拉，但特斯拉首席执行官埃隆马斯克表示，期待已久的 Cybertruck 将在 2023 年中期准备好销售。
在特斯拉位于德克萨斯州奥斯汀的新 Gigafactory 举行的特斯拉年度股东大会上，马斯克表示，“自 2019 年以来发生了很多变化”，当时他在一片狂热的宣传中首次在洛杉矶推出了电池电动 Cybertruck 的原型，以及然后开始收取 99 美元的预订费。
“规格和价格会有所不同，”马斯克现在说，并指出没有人预测到在 COVID-19 大流行之后席卷全球经济的通货膨胀。
然而，马斯克强调，Cybertruck 采用棱角分明的方形设计，将在奥斯汀的特斯拉 Gigafactory （插图，左下）建造，正如最初于 2019 年宣布的那样。“这是一款非常棒的产品，”他说。“这将是一个很棒的产品。
“这辆卡车将于明年年中在这家工厂生产，”马斯克说。“你会看到我们 在接下来的几个月里安装生产机器。”
马斯克最初关于 Cybertruck 的公告以及公众对此的反应对底特律的汽车制造商产生了巨大而直接的影响，这些汽车制造商 30 多年来一直依赖皮卡获取利润。
尽管在这些公司内部有所保留，但它促使通用汽车和福特加快了他们自己的电池电动皮卡的开发。福特 F-150 Lightning 现在以略低于 40,000 美元的价格出售，不过福特表示，由于电动汽车电池所用材料成本的上涨，价格正在上涨。
此外，福特还在密歇根州迪尔伯恩的闪电工厂扩大产能，同时将成品车运送给客户。“拿那个，埃隆马斯克，”福特首席执行官詹姆斯法利在福特宣布对太阳能进行重大投资时谈到闪电。（马斯克在推特上回复说：“谢谢，但我已经有了。”）
通用汽车表示，雪佛兰 Silverado 的电池电动版将于 2023 年初上市，而 Stellantis 正在开发的 Ram EV 皮卡将在 2024 年准备就绪，这给特斯拉带来了额外的竞争压力，特斯拉似乎拥有大约三年前 Cybertruck 首次出现时的电动皮卡。
然而，马斯克指出，特斯拉自 2012 年生产不到 3,000 辆汽车以来一直在稳步增长。特斯拉预计今年将生产 150 万辆汽车，并在 2022 年以每年 200 万辆的“运行率”生产汽车，因为它将继续提高该公司在奥斯汀和柏林的新工厂的产量。马斯克表示，特斯拉可能会在今年晚些时候宣布下一个 Gigafactory 的选址。
马斯克于 2019 年在特斯拉 Cybertruck 上亮相。
从图表上看，特斯拉过去 10 年的增长似乎是从该公司旨在引起投资者或风险资本家关注的预计扩张中提取出来的。
“我们还拥有业内最高的利润率，”马斯克说，并补充说特斯拉手头有足够的现金来资助创新和新工厂的建设。
在回答年度会议期间的一个问题时，马斯克表示，他和特斯拉董事会并未排除股票回购的可能性。
特斯拉有足够的材料来支持生产 150 万辆电动汽车所需的电池，尽管马斯克说，“供应越来越紧张。”
马斯克表示，他仍然对特斯拉的增长机会持乐观态度。“我认为特斯拉将成为世界上最有价值的公司。我认为它有一个非常光明的未来，”他说。
根据 companymarketcap.com 的数据，特斯拉是全球第六大最有价值的公司，市值为 9038 亿美元。排名第一的苹果市值为 2.71 万亿美元。
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