Photo: sugardesign_1 via Twitter
Tesla announced that the 2023 Investor Day would take place on March 1 at Gigafactory Texas. Among the hot topics discussed during the event are the long-term expansion plans and the details of the next-generation Tesla platform.
Tesla likes to show off new technologies and products during choreographed events watched by millions worldwide. We had Tesla Battery Day, as well as Tesla AI Day, where the company talked about specific plans and products. It also organizes an annual shareholders meeting, dissecting the company’s financial performance and future plans. Unlike the former two, which sometimes reveal far-fetched plans and products that might never come to fruition, the shareholders’ meeting sticks to the investor protocols and only talks about things that are certain to happen.
We guess the newly announced Investor Day is unlike the shareholders’ meetings in this regard. Most probably, Tesla will seize the moment to wow investors instead of giving them precise waypoints to follow. While the press release announcing the event is scarce in detail, it reveals that Tesla will provide “some of its institutional and retail investors who attend in person” a tour of the Gigafactory Texas. This is meant to show off Tesla’s “most advanced production line,” indicating how things will go. Tesla will also brief investors on long-term expansion plans and its future “generation 3” vehicle platform.
As you can see, there are a lot of “forward-looking statements,” which usually come with a disclaimer because they are less likely to happen as predicted or in a reasonable time frame. Nevertheless, such statements are useful to investors because they allow them to see what the company’s management thinks about different matters. As such, we’re certain that Tesla investors will not be disappointed on March 1, although they would not place their bets on anything that Elon Musk might tell them during the event.
Although investors might be more interested in Tesla’s future gigafactories, for us, far more interesting should prove the next-generation vehicle platform that Tesla works on. It is believed that the next platform would underpin a smaller Tesla vehicle, marking the democratization of electric cars. Elon Musk had hinted in the past that he might consider a more affordable Tesla, although it wouldn’t make much sense when all the expensive models were sold out.
Nevertheless, those times are gone, and Tesla struggles to find buyers for its vehicles. The fourth quarter preliminary results show that Tesla produced about 55,000 vehicles more than it sold, which turned the old production problem into a demand one. Tesla certainly could adjust prices, considering it enjoys the highest profit margin in the industry. Incentives are another way of boosting sales, and the EV maker is already using them to speed up vehicle delivery. But soon, Tesla would need a new, even more affordable product to keep growing.
This is where the “generation 3 platform” should help. If we take Musk’s words for granted, this should allow building an electric vehicle with half the costs of the 3/Y platform. The resulting cars will also be smaller than the current bestsellers. We’re not sure a $25,000 price point is possible, considering that the Model 3 was supposed to be a $35,000 car but is now $46,990. If we’re to take our crystal ball, we’d say the Model 3 will shed at least $5,000 from its sticker price, while the smaller model should retail for around $35,000.
We guess the newly announced Investor Day is unlike the shareholders’ meetings in this regard. Most probably, Tesla will seize the moment to wow investors instead of giving them precise waypoints to follow. While the press release announcing the event is scarce in detail, it reveals that Tesla will provide “some of its institutional and retail investors who attend in person” a tour of the Gigafactory Texas. This is meant to show off Tesla’s “most advanced production line,” indicating how things will go. Tesla will also brief investors on long-term expansion plans and its future “generation 3” vehicle platform.
As you can see, there are a lot of “forward-looking statements,” which usually come with a disclaimer because they are less likely to happen as predicted or in a reasonable time frame. Nevertheless, such statements are useful to investors because they allow them to see what the company’s management thinks about different matters. As such, we’re certain that Tesla investors will not be disappointed on March 1, although they would not place their bets on anything that Elon Musk might tell them during the event.
Although investors might be more interested in Tesla’s future gigafactories, for us, far more interesting should prove the next-generation vehicle platform that Tesla works on. It is believed that the next platform would underpin a smaller Tesla vehicle, marking the democratization of electric cars. Elon Musk had hinted in the past that he might consider a more affordable Tesla, although it wouldn’t make much sense when all the expensive models were sold out.
Nevertheless, those times are gone, and Tesla struggles to find buyers for its vehicles. The fourth quarter preliminary results show that Tesla produced about 55,000 vehicles more than it sold, which turned the old production problem into a demand one. Tesla certainly could adjust prices, considering it enjoys the highest profit margin in the industry. Incentives are another way of boosting sales, and the EV maker is already using them to speed up vehicle delivery. But soon, Tesla would need a new, even more affordable product to keep growing.
This is where the “generation 3 platform” should help. If we take Musk’s words for granted, this should allow building an electric vehicle with half the costs of the 3/Y platform. The resulting cars will also be smaller than the current bestsellers. We’re not sure a $25,000 price point is possible, considering that the Model 3 was supposed to be a $35,000 car but is now $46,990. If we’re to take our crystal ball, we’d say the Model 3 will shed at least $5,000 from its sticker price, while the smaller model should retail for around $35,000.
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