Yesterday was Tesla’s annual shareholders meeting and, by and large, Elon Musk acted relatively normal for a CEO who doesn’t believe in norms. And by relatively normal, I mean he talked about new products, addressed succession concerns, referenced Magneto from “X-Men,” and said some typically bizzare stuff that you can engage with (via that link) if you’ve missed arguing with your weird uncle about pizza-based conspiracies. Anyway, in today’s news roundup we’re going to be a little Tesla heavy because, frankly, that’s where the news is this morning. But, if you stick around and don’t try to steal your sister’s iPad, I promise you some updates on a Jeep recall and maybe even a story about BYD.
Tesla Is Going To Start Advertising Like A Real Company
As I write this, totally randomly, the song off of Carolyn Polacheck’s great new album that features Elon Musk’s ex-partner Grimes just started playing. It’s a sign! It’s a sign!
Elon Musk loves defying the status quo. The whole promise of Tesla was that the car industry was doing it wrong and he could be more successful by not acting like Detroit or Stuttgart. He was, in part, right. While Tesla isn’t perfect, the big bets he made early were mostly the correct ones. This has created a feedback loop wherein Elon Musk is always defying the status quo, even when it doesn’t entirely make sense. Sometimes it feels like Elon Musk now lives in a Cargo Cult of his own design.
One of his earliest decisions was to not advertise in any traditional sense. Why? The media loves covering Tesla, and he can self generate his own interest so why toss money to publishers? This seems to have worked. I’d argue that opening up a bunch of stores in malls and shopping centers is a type of marketing, but it’s not the usual way of doing things.
It sounds like that’s changing. Why? Here’s Automotive News with an explanation of his sudden change of heart:
Musk said it was “ironic” that as CEO of Tesla, he now owns Twitter. The social media platform is highly dependent on ads and will soon be led by advertising veteran Linda Yaccarino, who he hired last week.
“So I guess I should say advertising is awesome, and everyone should do it,” Musk said at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas. “We will try out a little advertising and see how it goes.”
It underscores his efforts to shore up investor confidence in the automaker’s prospects at a time when rising competition and a slow economy has forced Tesla to slash prices.
In addition to living in a Cargo Cult of his own design, Elon Musk is also a walking monkey paw. I’m sure the folks at big agencies like Ogilvy and BBDO are licking their lips to get some of that sweet, sweet Tesla money, but I’m curious to see what this will actually look like. Will he just run ads on Twitter and call it a day? Will he hire an actual agency or just do it himself?
Just for fun, Jason put together a couple of potential Tesla ads. Neither the ad at the top of this post or the one in this story are real.
Here’s A Render Of A “New” Tesla Product
One of the biggest criticisms of Tesla is that all of its cars are old. It’s not an entirely fair point as Tesla is quite aggressive when it comes to making updates on the fly, though it’s clear Tesla ain’t exactly Chevy in the 1950s. While the Model S has seen improvements in engineering, features, and capabilities, it looks mostly like the car that came out more than a decade ago.
Sure, there’s the Tesla Cybertruck, a vehicle that seems to exist and that some people will eventually be able to buy. The same is true for the Tesla Roadster. I think people who put down a deposit for the Roadster will someday get a car. Just not anytime soon.
With so many other competitive vehicles out there, it behooves Tesla to come out with new products. Or at least refresh the cars it does have.
Here’s what Musk said at the meeting: “There are two new products that I think you’ll be very excited about. Both the design of the products and the manufacturing techniques are head and shoulders above anything else that is present in the industry.”
Will those be cars? Robots? It’s unclear, but Tesla did show the render above. If I had to guess, I’d say that’s a refreshed Tesla Model Y, which makes sense because it’s the company’s volume leader even if the Model Y is young by Tesla standards (it went on sale three years ago). Still, if you’re going to pick one place to start, I’d start with the Model Y. There are also clearly new Tesla Model 3 mules running around, so it’s possible the Model 3 is the second new product.
Musk also told people he was going to stick around for a while. I assume you could do an entire “Succession” series based on Elon Musk’s many kids trying to take over his many companies. It would be fun to watch. Everyone will have to wait a little longer as Musk announced, to cheers, that he’s not leaving anytime soon.
BYD Hires 4,000-5,000 New Software Engineers
BYD Chairman Wang Chaunfu is an engineer first and a CEO second. Therefore, he’s never seen a problem he can’t throw engineers at. Seriously, Chinese automaker/technology company BYD has 660,000 employees, which is approximately the number of people who live in the entire state of Vermont.
While BYD has been dominating the EV market in China and coming out with exciting new vehicles like the BYD Seagull, the reality is the company lags its competitors in the development of assisted and automated driving technology. The company’s solution? Per Reuters:
Between 4,000 and 5,000 software engineers have been hired recently, BYD senior vice president Stella Li told an investor forum this month when quizzed why the automaker was behind in automation and intelligence technologies.
“We are not ahead of others but we will come up with various types of innovation in two to three years,” she said according to a transcript that was confirmed as accurate by the company.
Current BYD recruiting advertisements for engineers specialising in autonomous driving that target top Chinese universities such as Zhejiang University, indicate that the hiring is ongoing.
Here’s my advice: When BYD says it’s going to do something, believe it.
Jeep Cherokee Owners Asked To Park Their Jeeps Outside
If you own a 2014 to 2016 Jeep Cherokee, the company would prefer it if you parked the vehicle outside due to a serious fire risk with the small SUVs.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an “electrical short in the power lift gate module may lead to a vehicle fire with the ignition on or off. This recall affects 132,099 vehicles previously repaired during a 2015 recall.”
A remedy hasn’t been developed yet, so far now just keep the Jeeps away from anything flammable.
The Big Question/Flush
What should Tesla’s advertising tagline be?
I’m honestly torn between “keep the Chinese cars the heck out of this country,” and “Please bring the cheap Chinese cars, we’re desperate for affordable transportation over here.” Like, China is scary and all and I don’t think they need any more market share than they already have, but this new car market is absurd and affordable transportation’s gotta come from somewhere. So part of me doesn’t want them to come here, but if they did I’d probably buy one because simultaneously screw all the other automakers for not making cheap cars anymore.
Can we some Chinese houses over here too? And maybe some Chinese interest rates?
They have plenty of unoccupied houses – whole cities of them. It seems their grasp on the real estate business was a bit… overoptimistic.
I’ve always found it kind of ironic that the only Chinese-made, mainstream vehicle available here has been the very-not-affordable Buick Enclave. GM’s margins must be ridiculous on those. Then again, maybe if they marked down the price and badged them as Chevys, they would actually sell more of them.
Tesla: Exciting new product announcements! (New products eventually, probably)
Maybe, someday, if you’re (un)lucky.
Tesla: We’ll Fix It In A Patch
Tesla – S3XY Cyber Truck Nutz available soon!
Tesla: Back to the future!
Look out! Here comes another Tesla!
Caroline Polachek creates nice toe-tappers and is — to me anyway — a newcomer. If you like Polachek, you might like the latest from Alison Goldfrapp. I’ve also subconsciously put Rozi Plain on repeat, although she’s in a completely different genre from Polachek and Goldfrapp. Lot’s of good music released in 2023 so far.
I’m sure each of these artists drives a car.
Tagline: Tesla! (Apologies to Jeb Bush)
I genuinely don’t understand the hate for Ol’ Musky and why people always say the same tired jokes about him being a Nazi or whatever. Look, I don’t like the cars. I was disappointed every time I was in one. They have moved the needle, though. Twitter is the same as it was before and not really all that consequential in the big picture of life.
But, anyone who poo-poos what Space-X and Starlink have done is not being serious. Those companies actually matter. They are pretty game-changing.
Gotta give credit where credit is due…
You can recognize someone’s accomplishments while also recognizing when they’re doing heinous shit.
Such as?
Seriously?
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/elon-musk-twitter-terrible-things-hes-said-and-done
Vanity Fair? Now THAT is funny!
Thoughts on the article and the multiple sources within?
I’m not gonna line item everyone, but come on. All the Covid stuff you can get rid of right off the bat. I know for a fact that it was real as I lost more than a few to it, but to look back to that time? No one really knew what the hell was going on then. Remember bleach-spraying your Cheerios and Pop-Tart boxes before bringing them inside?
The cave diving thing? That one was strange. I’ll give ya that one for sure!
The other ones about workplace environment? That happens in every business ever since the beginning of time. The only reason those made news was because the broader topics were in that month’s hot topic cycle. You can’t babysit every employee at all times otherwise nothing would ever get done. The one dude that was really wronged got paid big time and heads rolled. That’s a valid one of going over the top.
The Elizabeth Warren one? I doubt she was nearly as upset about it as other people wanted her to be, unless it got her votes.
I forget what the other ones were. That’s how silly they are when looked at objectively. Everyone wants to get in a huff about everything. I’m not saying the guy is an angel, but read the tone of the article (and her byline bio) and consider the source publication.
Private space companies are problematic. While they accomplish things, they introduce new complications into something that could be of use for the betterment of all. And they make their profits largely off of government contracts that would have once been internal NASA spending.
And Starlink putting a ton more satellites in orbit is a mixed bag, too, with astronomy suffering and the continued increase in orbiting objects posing other potential problems.
I also have concerns about things like the Vegas tunnel, which would have been better as a subway, but putting Teslas in it meant more private profits.
(And the union-busting, of course, is another problem. But it’s hard to say that is specific to Musk, since a lot of companies engage in that.)
And, of course, Musk blurring the lines between himself and his companies makes it hard to look at a Tesla without considering whether it would send the message that you are a die-hard Musk fan.
I’m not a “stan” or anything for the guy, just to be clear, but I’ll respond to your very valid points in hopefully the same vein.
I think that privatizing (while a tightrope) is the better option of the two. The way the Government operates/operated NASA is vastly inferior if looked at as an end-to-end entity on a task. They for sure would spend way more money to absorb all the costs internally and would progress much slower due to less urgency. The way the Gov works is mind-bogglingly inefficient. I know this first hand. I worked for them.
Space junk is a real concern, I totally agree there. The cat is already out of that bag, though. Overall, I think the trade-off is a fair one considering giving internet access to everyone on the planet is a net positive (even with all of its own drawbacks).
The tunnel thing is completely dumb. I for sure have your back on that one. Although a new subway system is also not a wise idea. To expect a Government-run brand-new rail system is an insane thought. We can’t even manage the ones we have!
The union issue is an argument, but that will solve itself over time. It always does.
Finally, I don’t look at someone who wears Adidas or Puma as a racist so why would I look at someone who drives a Tesla as whatever people imagine it to be? That notion is just vanity and hubris and is ridiculous. I don’t think people should worry about that type of thing if they are happy with their choices.
Thank you for your honest reply!
The problem with privatizing is not the cost, but the ownership. NASA developments are government-owned, and joint projects with private companies often end up with a significant portion of the technology being government-owned. This leads to a larger group getting access to the technology once it is seen fit to release. Private companies tend to try to protect their intellectual property.
The space junk cat may be out of the bag, but we could try to find solutions that don’t add to it, and perhaps ways to remove some of it. Starlink is a particular sticking point due to the sheer number of satellites they use, but decades of space junk is a problem regardless.
We don’t manage public transit well in this country. That’s different from not being able to. We could, especially something like a very limited loop like Vegas. We could also do a lot better job investing in maintaining all of our aging infrastructure, as well as supporting public transit. It’d be better for those of us who like to drive if fewer people were forced to drive.
As to the Adidas/Puma thing, they aren’t currently being run by someone who takes great pains to connect their personal identity to the brand identity, nor do they have the rabid fanbase that also support that. I do know at least one Tesla owner who isn’t a Musk fan, but even he admits that he is aware of and uncomfortable with the potential implied connection. Admittedly, this is a problem that doesn’t have a lot of direct analogues, but it might be more akin to wearing a shirt for a band you don’t actually want to be associated with.
Thanks for the conversation!
“internal NASA spending” – like to North American Rockwell for the Shuttle Orbiter, Morton Thiokol for the shuttle SRBs, the North American Rockwell Apollo CSM, the Grumman Lunar Module, McDonnell Douglas/Boeing/North American Saturn rockets, McDonnell Mercury capsules, Convair Atlas rockets, Rocketdyne Redstone rockets, Martin Titan rockets, and McDonnell Gemini capsules. Outsourcing the final step in the process, the actual launch and orbit activities, is just the logical next step in the way NASA has always operated
Do some research and use that lump in your head you’ve clearly been ignoring. If you can’t figure out why people don’t like that douche it says A LOT about you.
I didn’t realize it was an insult to a fellow commentariat out of the blue Wednesday. Take a pill or something, pal. Thanks, though!
Thanks for the feedback.
At the end of the day, Musk is a transphobe. That should be more than sufficient for you to dislike him, even if you ignore the numerous valid points the other posters have mentioned. Don’t support transphobes.
I’ll mute a Tesla commercial faster than I can mute a “Limu Emu” commercial.
Lime Emu (and Doug) are out there doing the Lord’s work!!!! They’re saving people $$$$ on their insurance!!!
As long as you are okay with “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liiiiibeeeerteeeeee, Liiiiibeeeerteeeeee.”
Or as I call them: Limu Emu and Douche.
The cybertruck was unveiled so long ago it’s due for a mid-cycle refresh
Cybertruck, quad, the fake robot, Roadster, probably other stuff I’m forgetting
1st I’m not a Stan, simply someone interested in Telas stated mission, even though the actions of the xompany don’t always seem to line up with their stated mission…
Let’s go 1 by 1…
Cyber Truck, like many when I 1st saw it roll up on the stage I thought no fucking way, that’s a joke right?
About cyber truck actual for sale rollout… it certainly seems like it is taking way too long since it has been almost 4 years now since it was 1st revealed. Supposedly it is going to Start to be available for sale (or start fulfilling the +1.5M pre-orders) early this fall. Like many I’ll believe it when I see it & hope it does come out soon. Given this would be only the 6th New model and Tesla has had to come up with entirely new manufacturing techniques to make this product including the most powerful (9000 ton) stamping machines to produce + using stainless steel for the structure (another 1st in auto manufacturing) I can understand why it has taken this long
Quad -> I think this was just a marketing stunt used for the CT rollout. They wanted to show how easy it will be to load up a quad into the bed of the CT with its ‘kneeling’ feature & ‘ramp’built w/in the tailgate. They sure as shit were Not going to roll up w/an ICE quad into the bed. So why not have a little fun and make a little arts & craft electric ‘cyber quad’to match the CT?
Fake Robot. Besides Tesla supplied videos the Tesla humanoid robot is supposed to actually be real & supposedly being used at least in some limited capacity w/in at least 1 Tesla vehicle assembly factory. I would think it would make more sense to create manufacturing task specific robots but what do I know I don’t live inside an active volcano & my cat is not white & is scared of me
(New) Roadster. Ol’ Musky himself has said many, many times his view of the new roadster sales are expected to be low as a low volume product likely even lower than the model S & therefore it is a low, low priority product which likely won’t come out until After the CT, the Model ‘2’ and even after the Semi. So… at this point… maybe it comes out in 2025 or 2026?
Let me guess, the new product is a Model 3 Stephen Burrows Designer Edition, right?
I have no real comment on what the Tesla tagline should be, as it will probably end up being something juvenile, such as what RidesBicyclesLovesCars suggested (I’ll admit, I did laugh at it, so well done RidesBicycles).
I do, however, have a comment on that fake ad with Ricardo Montalban. I wish it were real. Granted, Ricardo has been dead for nearly 15 years, but if he were not, it would be simply glorious to see him advertising for EVs (of any brand) with that smooth, smooth charisma he was known for.
Perhaps Elon can borrow the hologram Kanye used to recreate Robert Kardashian a couple years ago, to resurrect Ricardo Montalban for the commercials.
Tesla tag line;
“Only pedo’s don’t like 420.69”
Then hire Marty and Moog from Mighty Car Mods to produce one of their trippy musical segments like the Peugeot, S2000, Twisted, 2Sexy, etc.
That’s Peugbro, Bro. I’ll buy whatever the Space Wizard tells me to.
Wait, Mark Hamill/Luke Skywalker is selling a car? I’m in.
The Flush:
Tesla: That Was Clearly A Deep Fake Video
Tesla: Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning Who?
Honestly, I think this could work, because it seems to be mostly true:
Tesla – Cars For People Who Aren’t Into Cars
Tesla: We are not all DBs.
Tesla: Want us to decide for you, thinking is hard.
Hey, now that there’s a flush, I’ll answer it:
“Tesla: It’s the electric vehicle company everyone’s heard of.”
“Tesla: until they standardize charging, we’ve got the advantage.”
“Tesla: Musk is barely even involved now.”
(I think the last one might increase sales, but Musk would never allow it.)
Why suffer when you can join the insufferable? Tesla!
BVD’s staffing of 660,000 sounds downright massive. Hiring 5k more engineers is less than a 1% increase in their total headcount. How does that compare to staffing at other automotive companies? Or “tech” companies? Or electric car companies that are kind of a hybrid of both?
BVD, the underwear company?
Yeah, I also thought it was weird that the company that makes my skivvies is branching out into electric cars, but I guess everybody is diversifying these days.
Can someone please flush and put the seat down?
Thanks
-mgnt
What. like the fuel in their tanks?
Let me get this straight, Elon Musk owns a majority stake in Tesla and Twitter and is CEO of both. He then steps down as CEO of Twitter after hiring an NBC exec who was brought in with a background in advertising, the thing that Twitter is mostly reliant upon for income. Then Elon announces that Tesla is going to start advertising.
Now this sure sounds like Elon is planning on taking Tesla money and spending it on Twitter ads, which isn’t illegal, but man is it some left pocket, right pocket shenanigans which should enrage Tesla share holders.
He certainly doesn’t mind intertwining interests. Boring Company making Tesla loops doesn’t anger the stakeholders, but there was always the risk some other combinations would happen.
I thought that too. But then, Twitter has its share of Tesla fans already, and anyone on the platform is aware by now of Elon and has a viewpoint on him and Tesla, so it seems like it would be something of an echo chamber if it’s actually meant to drive any growth for Tesla.
But that’s a bit more of a good-faith option, it’s just as likely that it’s a way to pad Twitter’s ad revenue as needed. Projected to be down this month? Boosted Tesla posts coming right up!
Musk owns like 13% of Tesla, he’s almost certainly the single largest individual shareholder, but it’s hardly a majority. His brother owns less than half a percent
But he still has a lot of control as CEO, so he could definitely try to use Tesla ads to keep Twitter afloat. And his 13% combines with the shares owned by true believers to keep him in charge. It’d be hard to rein him in.
He reports to his immediate supervisor Robyn Denholm and they’re both accountable to the large institutional investors that collectively own 45% (Vanguard being the largest of them, with 6.5%, followed by Blackrock)
Considering Denholm doesn’t rein him in when he announces that he has to personally approve every hire (among other things that could raise some red flags), I don’t know if she’s going to stop him from routing a significant chunk of the new advertising budget to Twitter.
I hear there’s this hot new automotive site with some serious cred. The founders are a rusty, crusty dude, a certified weirdo, and some guy in California. Tesla should TOTALLY advertise with them!!
I feel like any one of the founders could be any one of these three people.
Three guys doing the work of nine.
I suspect Musk would never advertise on a site that could turn a critical eye toward his products.
I further suspect that this site has the integrity to avoid any advertising deal that hinges on favorable coverage for any particular company.
No flush? How will you entice us to interact? Are we all just going to comment on the information provided?
Instead of giving a flush, they’re letting the Morning Dump float with just the provided news.
Letting it mellow today…
It ain’t manual, wagonny, diesely brown enough yet to flush down.
The Clarity post from earlier presents a door for puns that I don’t even want to open.