Tesla Retail Investor Shrugs Off Impact of Brand Damage

Key Concepts:

• Elon Musk's reduced involvement with Dodge and increased focus on Tesla.
• Tesla's performance and team strength despite Musk's temporary focus on Dodge.
• Demand for Tesla vehicles and potential brand damage due to political factors.
• Tesla's full self-driving (FSD) technology and its comparison to Waymo.

Elon Musk's Time Allocation:

• Elon Musk announced he would reduce his time spent on Dodge starting in May and allocate more time to Tesla.
• It was always understood that Musk's involvement with Dodge was temporary.
• He will reduce his involvement to 1-2 days a week (Musk's week is a seven-day week).
• This shift is viewed positively by Tesla shareholders.

Tesla's Performance and Team Strength:

• The launch of the new Model Y simultaneously in four factories on three continents demonstrates the strength of the Tesla team.
• Tesla's accomplishments were not delayed or missing during the four to five months Musk was involved with Dodge.

Demand and Brand Perception:

• Tesla is seeing many people that have never considered EVs, now considering EVs and in particular Teslas.
• There is a give and take.
• There is a typical Saturday morning protestation in front of the Tesla store.
• The overall goal of Tesla putting real air on the streets, being the one vector that will be the one transporting anybody and everybody in the next decade, that hasn't been changed in anything.

Full Self-Driving (FSD) and Waymo Comparison:

• Elon Musk expects significant revenues from full self-drive by the middle of 2026.
• Waymo is built on other companies vehicles is very expensive and is geo fenced.
• Tesla's FSD will work everywhere, as demonstrated by its adoption in China with limited prior information on Chinese roads.

Conclusion:

The discussion centers on Elon Musk's shift in focus back to Tesla, the company's continued success, and the future of full self-driving technology. Despite potential brand damage from external factors, Tesla's strong team and technological advancements, particularly in FSD, position it for continued growth. The comparison with Waymo highlights Tesla's advantage in scalability and cost-effectiveness.