Teslahas postponed its highly anticipated Robotaxi reveal event, originally scheduled for August, to October. The delay was communicated internally to give teams more time to develop additional prototypes, Bloomberg reported.
Tesla’s design team was asked to rework certain vehicle elements. This internal communication emphasizes the company’s commitment to ensuring prototypes are of the highest quality and readiness before they are released to the public.
Initial Announcement and Market Reaction
Elon Muskhad originally set the date for the event eight months ago. Optimism for the event has led to an 11-day winning streak for Tesla’s stock, adding more than $257 billion to its market value. But the delay sent Tesla’s stock down 8.4% on Thursday Fireplace It marked the biggest decline since May. In contrast, shares of rivals Uber Technologies and Lyft rose on the news, with Uber’s shares rising 6.1% while Lyft’s rose 6.1%.4.6 jumped.
The concept of an autonomous taxi service was part of Elon Musk’s second “master plan” for Tesla in 2016. Musk had put the project ahead of developing an affordable electric vehicle. But despite years of demonstrations, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology still requires constant monitoring and does not make vehicles fully autonomous. However, recently, Musk and his engineers have shown increasing optimism about the potential of FSD technology.
Tesla’s Latest Performance and Analyst Views
Tesla made a profit of 1.5% in the first half of the year compared to last year Delivered 6.6% fewer vehicles and aimed to reduce inventory by reducing production by 14% in the second quarter. Tesla’s recent focus has also been the addition of the Cybertruck to its product line.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives believes the timing of the Robotaxi show is less important than its content, noting that the delay could lead to a more robust and well-prepared event. Ives said investors shouldn’t worry about the delay, stressing that Tesla’s timing for autonomous technology, partnerships and robotaxi remains the same for the bull case.
The initial event date of August 8, set in April, was likely overly optimistic. Tesla is expected to ensure prototypes meet quality standards ahead of the event. Reports suggest Tesla is using existing vehicle properties equipped with exterior cameras for Robotaxi development.
Despite the delay, the focus remains on the content of the event and the preparation of the prototypes, with investors and experts hoping that the delayed event in October will provide a more detailed and impressive demonstration of Tesla’s Robotaxi initiative.
The success of the event and the subsequent launch of the Robotaxi service are vital to Tesla’s positioning and technology leadership in the autonomous vehicle market.