Elon Musk confirmed on Monday that Tesla’s robotaxi occasion scheduled for August has been postponed to October. The CEO responded to a publish from a person on X, the previous Twitter he owned, saying he had “requested what I take into account to be essential design modifications to the entrance, and the additional time permits us to point out off a number of different issues.”
Musk’s X publish appears to echo this Bloomberg reported final week. The publication claimed on July 11 that suspending the occasion would give Tesla extra time to construct extra prototypes. It added that the corporate had communicated the delay internally and that the design staff was advised to “redesign sure parts of the automobile,” which feels like an order from Musk to vary the entrance design.
The CEO stated in early April that the corporate would launch the Tesla Robotaxi on August 8. Reuters In line with reviews, Tesla is canceling its deliberate $25,000 finances mannequin (usually casually known as the Mannequin 2 externally) and as a substitute going all-in on robotaxis. Musk claims Reuters is “mendacity” with out itemizing any particular factors of competition.
Just a few weeks later, Tesla laid off “greater than 10%” of the corporate’s greater than 140,000 workers (on the time). Information of the layoffs got here two weeks after the electrical automobile maker fired two high executives, with Musk warning workers that “we have to keep completely core on headcount and value reducing.” He added that it appeared like a menace and “whereas some executives are taking this critically, most will not be but.”
In contrast with the identical interval in 2023, Tesla’s car deliveries within the first half of 2024 decreased by almost 7%, and manufacturing within the second quarter decreased by almost 15%.