Texas: Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk warned on Tuesday that the electric-vehicle maker was not immune to the global economy, which he said would be a difficult next 12 months.
At the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, Musk said the Model Y SUV was on track to be the best-selling car globally in 2023, and reaffirmed that Tesla would launch its long-delayed Cybertruck pickup this year. will start distributing
In a sign of tough times ahead even for Tesla, the market leader in electric cars, Musk said the company would try to advertise its vehicles, something it hasn’t done before. “We’ll try to do a little advertising and see how it goes,” he said.
“Tesla is not immune to the global economic environment. I expect things to be difficult on a macro economic level for at least the next 12 months,” said the billionaire, dressed in a black T-shirt and trousers.
At the meeting, shareholders voted to appoint JB Straubel, the company’s co-founder and former chief technology officer, to the board. Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis urged investors to vote against Straubel’s appointment, citing concerns about his independence.
Straubel, who is CEO of battery recycling and materials company Redwood Materials, is considered a possible successor to Musk, according to Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management.
Shareholders also rejected a proposal to publish a report that sought to establish Musk’s succession plan.
Musk has been under pressure to address investor concerns about the lack of a clear successor, softening demand and the delay of some new models, as well as his involvement in social media platform Twitter, which he bought in October.
“I had a short-term distraction from Twitter because I had to do major open-heart surgery on Twitter to ensure the company’s survival,” Musk said Tuesday. Last week, he announced that Linda Yacarino, the former advertising head of NBCUniversal, would replace him as CEO of Twitter and that he would focus on products and technology at the company.
In April, Musk said Tesla would prioritize sales growth before profit after missing its margin target due to aggressive price cuts.
Musk sent an email to employees on Monday that the company can’t take on any new hires unless he personally approves them, including contractors, and asked executives to “think carefully” before submitting hiring requests. .
new model
Musk said at the meeting that Tesla would like to produce a quarter million Cybertrucks a year, depending on demand. He added that the EV maker expects to complete the engineering and design of its next-generation roadster sports car this year and hopes to start production next year.
He also teased two new mass-market models under development, saying he expects to make more than 5 million of those vehicles, but did not elaborate.
Musk also said he would get a third-party audit done to ensure there were no child labor in the cobalt mines that supply the material used to make the batteries.
“In fact, we will put a webcam on the mine and if anyone sees a child, please let us know,” he said, adding that most of Tesla’s battery packs were based on iron and that Tesla used cobalt only in “small amounts”. I did as a binder.
board recommendations
Tesla shareholders voted swiftly on Tuesday with board recommendations on nearly all of the proposals. The meeting was attended by shareholders who had won invitations through a lottery and was also live-streamed.
Tesla shares closed at $166.52 on Tuesday and climbed 0.6% in after-hours trading. The stock has fallen nearly 60% from its record high in November 2021.
Shareholders also voted to re-elect Musk and Chair Robin Denholm as board members.
Proxy advisory firm ISS has recommended a vote against Denholm, citing concerns about a lack of scrutiny over the use of Tesla shares as collateral for loans by Musk and his brother, Kimbal.
Investors voted against publishing a report on “key-person risk”. The motion sought to identify key individuals and establish a succession plan.
Asked about rumors that he may step down as Tesla CEO, Musk said Tuesday, “I don’t think so.”
Musk said at last year’s shareholder meeting that he would stay at the automaker as long as he is useful. In November, Tesla director James Murdoch testified in court that Musk had identified someone as a potential successor.
Tesla board members have been discussing CFO Zach Kirkhorn as a possible successor as CEO, The Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing a person familiar with the matter.
(Reporting by Tanya Jain and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Hyunju Jin in San Francisco, Writing by Sayantani Ghosh, Editing by Devika Syamanath, Arun Coeur and Matthew Lewis)
Disclaimer: This report is generated automatically from Reuters news service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.
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