Elon Musk confirmed on Monday that Tesla's robotaxi event scheduled for August has been postponed to October. The CEO x.com/elonmusk/status/1812883378703925625″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:replied;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>answered on x (the former twitter, which he owns) to a user's post that “requested what I believe is a major design change on the front end, and the extra time allows us to show off some other stuff.”
Musk's post on x seems to echo what Bloomberg reported last week. The publication claimed on July 11 that delaying the event would give Tesla More time to build additional prototypesHe added that the company had communicated the delay internally and that the design team was told to “redo certain elements of the car,” which sounds like an order from Musk to change the front-end design.
The CEO said in early April that the company would unveil the Tesla Robotaxi on August 8. The teaser was published the same day. Reuters reported that Tesla was cancelling a $25,000 budget model (often referred to externally as the Model 2) in favor of going all-in on robotaxis. Musk claimed Reuters “was lying” without listing any specific points of controversy.
A few weeks later, Tesla cut “more than 10 percent” of the company’s then-140,000-plus employees. Two weeks after news of the layoffs broke, the electric vehicle maker fired two senior executives as Musk warned staff that “we have to be absolutely tough on headcount and cost reduction.” In what sounded like a threat, he added, “While some of the executive staff are taking this seriously, most are not yet.”
Tesla delivered nearly seven percent fewer vehicles in the first half of 2024 and produced nearly 15 percent fewer in the second quarter than in the same period in 2023.
