Elon Musk is cutting Tesla Inc.’s workforce by 7 percent — or more than 3,000 jobs — warning that the “road ahead is very difficult” in making electric cars more affordable for the mass market.
Tesla shares fell as much as 7.7 percent shortly after the start of regular trading. Musk wrote in a blog post that the Palo Alto, California-based company managed to eke out a profit in the final three months of 2018, though narrower than the hard-won third-quarter earnings it reported in October.
Tesla is under pressure to limit spending as it emerges from what Musk called the “most challenging” year in its history. While it succeeded in scaling up output of its Model 3, the company missed analysts’ production targets during the fourth quarter, and it’s cut prices to partially make up for the halving of a U.S. tax credit that’s acted as a buyers’ incentive. The credit is set to drop again in July before going away entirely at the end of the year.
Tesla increased staff by 30 percent last year, which is “more than we can support,” Musk said early Friday. It’s absorbed some of the cost challenges by initially selling only higher-priced versions of the Model 3, its first vehicle billed as a car for the masses. Until now, the cheapest configuration available of the vehicle has cost $44,000, Musk said. As production increases over the next few months, the company will need to sell lower-cost versions, he said.
“Starting around May, we will need to deliver at least the mid-range Model 3 variant in all markets, as we need to reach more customers who can afford our vehicles,” Musk said. “Moreover, we need to continue making progress towards lower priced variants of Model 3.”
The chief executive officer has tweeted before about the risks involved with selling cheaper versions of the Model 3 too soon. He warned in May that Tesla would “lose money & die” if it shipped a $35,000 version of the sedan right away.
Tesla shares dropped to as low as $320.40 shortly after the open, costing Musk more than $800 million on paper, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The stock was little changed over the past year, though it gyrated dramatically during 2018 as Musk careened from crisis to crisis, warring with analysts over Tesla’s cash needs, smoking marijuana in an interview and losing his chairman’s role in an SEC settlement over his tweeted buyout offer that never materialized — all while working furiously to ramp up production of the Model 3.
The company’s 5.3 percent bonds due 2025 opened trading Friday sharply lower, one of the biggest losers in the high-yield market. The notes fell just under 1 cent on the dollar to 88.75 cents, according to Trace bond price data.
Tesla’s overarching challenge is making cars, batteries and solar products cost-competitive with fossil fuels, Musk said Friday in the blog post.
“While we have made great progress, our products are still too expensive for most people,”
Musk said. “Sorry for all these numbers, but I want to make sure that you know all the facts and figures and understand that the road ahead is very difficult.”
Lawsuits and fines from the SEC, shareholders and investors sure aren’t helping things either. Can TESLA survive the storm ahead?