Tesla shares fell nearly 9% on Friday, wiping about $60bn (£45bn) from the company’s value, after the long-awaited unveiling of its so-called robotaxi failed to excite investors.
Shares in the electric carmaker tumbled to $217 at market close following an event in Hollywood, where the chief executive, Elon Musk, revealed a much-hyped driverless vehicle. The stock price is down roughly 12% year-to-date.
Musk said the company would start building the fully autonomous “Cybercab” by 2026 at a price of less than $30,000, and showed off a van he claimed was capable of transporting 20 people around town autonomously – which he said would reshape cities by turning car parks into parks.
Before the event, he tweeted: “And all transport will be fully autonomous within 50 years.”
During the showcase, he wrote that car parks would no longer be needed in cities.
However, analysts said the event was short on detail and also expressed disappointment over a lack of specifics about other Tesla projects. Musk has a history of making grand projections about upcoming products and failing to follow through in the timeframe he has set, or at all.
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Tom Narayan, an analyst at Royal Bank of Canada, said in a note to investors that the event lacked detail. “Investors we spoke to at the event thought the event was light of real numbers and timelines,” he wrote.
“These typically come at Tesla events. This one seemed focused on branding and marketing Tesla’s vision, rather than giving concrete numbers for us to model out. As such, we would expect shares to trade lower.”
Narayan added that some investors were hoping for a teaser about a lower-priced vehicle, with pedals and steering wheel, that would launch next year. However, none was forthcoming.
Garrett Nelson, an analyst at investment research firm CFRA, said he was disappointed by the Cybercab reveal and a lack of detail about a cheaper vehicle.
He wrote: “The event raised a lot of questions, was surprisingly brief, and was more of a controlled demonstration than a presentation. We were disappointed by the lack of detail regarding [Tesla’s] near-term product roadmap, eg, the more affordable model and Roadster, both of which Musk said would achieve first production in 2025 on its last conference call.”
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