Ford who? Elon Musk Reveals Tesla's True Rival

Tesla has taken a significant lead in the race for electric vehicles.

But the world’s other automakers have not given up on closing the gap that separates them from Elon Musk’s company.

Thus they announced billions of dollars of investment to develop electric vehicles. Each of these automakers only targets Tesla. Legacy automakers like GM (GM) – Get a free reportford (F) – Get a free reportvolkswagen (VWAGY) – Get a free reportPorsche (EXPLOITED) Mercedes Benz (DMLRY) bmw (BMWYY) nissan (NSANY) Sling (HMC) – Get a free report all align their ambitions in this segment considered the future of the automotive industry.

Upstarts as Rivian (RIVN) – Get a free report and lucid (LCID) – Get a free report they also dream of surpassing the Austin, Texas-based company.

They all see themselves as Tesla’s main rival.

But Musk doesn’t see everyone as threatening competitors. Also, to show that Tesla was playing in a league of its own, the company announced on January 12 a massive price drop on all its models ranging from 7% to 20%, thus challenging all its competitors to do the same. Convinced of its superiority, Tesla is aware that other automakers risk putting themselves in the red if they try to respond with comparable price cuts.

But in Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings call on January 25, Musk was asked who he thought would be Tesla’s main rival five years from now.

“I’m curious how you see the current competitive landscape changing in the next few years, and who you see as your main competitors five years from now,” an analyst asked him.

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‘They work harder’

“Five years from now, I guess a long time,” the billionaire smiled. “I don’t think you can see the second place with the telescope.”

He then continued: “I don’t think it’s any of the companies we know of. I’m just assuming someone might pick it up, eventually.”

But a few minutes later, he revealed that Chinese automakers could be Tesla’s biggest competition.

“We have a lot of respect for the auto companies in China. They are the most competitive in the world. That is our experience and the Chinese market is the most competitive. They work harder and smarter. We have a lot of respect for the Chinese car companies they are up against. we compete”.