Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted
11 hours ago, Hank Kingsley said:

The President of the United States is literally a car salesman. 

Sigh-gif.gif

 

Using the fucking White House as a backdrop to benefit a billionaire donor who also is destroying the government’s ability to regulate business or innovate. And the media has given up on reporting corruption or illegality of any of these actions. “The President looked at Teslas on the White House lawn and went ‘Vroom vroom.’ Today is the day Trump became the people’s President”

 

  • Rage+1 2
Posted
10 minutes ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Using the fucking White House as a backdrop to benefit a billionaire donor who also is destroying the government’s ability to regulate business or innovate. And the media has given up on reporting corruption or illegality of any of these actions. “The President looked at Teslas on the White House lawn and went ‘Vroom vroom.’ Today is the day Trump became the people’s President”

 

  • Haha 2
  • Rage+1 7
Posted

With the precipitous drop in sales they need a place to park all of those unsold swastikars. The White House lawn seems like as good a place as any to store them.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
3 minutes ago, royiv said:

With the precipitous drop in sales they need a place to park all of those unsold swastikars. The White House lawn seems like as good a place as any to store them.

Doesn't matter.  We are 100% going to see a massive government contract to buy 500,000 Teslas, rebranded as "Low Fuel Cost Armored Assault Vehicles" and crammed into the Pentagon budget.  Tesla will strap a .50 cal to the roof, charge an extra $50k for that upgrade, and be swimming in cash again before year-end.

Because if there's anything that Elon HATES, it's "government waste," amirite?  He's such a hero.

  • Like 1
Posted
18 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Doesn't matter.  We are 100% going to see a massive government contract to buy 500,000 Teslas, rebranded as "Low Fuel Cost Armored Assault Vehicles" and crammed into the Pentagon budget.  Tesla will strap a .50 cal to the roof, charge an extra $50k for that upgrade, and be swimming in cash again before year-end.

Because if there's anything that Elon HATES, it's "government waste," amirite?  He's such a hero.

"Where is our goddamn fire support!?!"

"Sir!  Fire support is delayed because they had to stop and charge their batteries...but the cybertruck that tows the generator ran out of juice, so it has to charge it's battery before it can come forward and charge their batteries" 

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Posted
Doesn't matter.  We are 100% going to see a massive government contract to buy 500,000 Teslas, rebranded as "Low Fuel Cost Armored Assault Vehicles" and crammed into the Pentagon budget.  Tesla will strap a .50 cal to the roof, charge an extra $50k for that upgrade, and be swimming in cash again before year-end.
Because if there's anything that Elon HATES, it's "government waste," amirite?  He's such a hero.

So you’re saying I need to dump everything I have into TSLA? (Sadly, you’ve been way more right than wrong WRT America’s slide into the abyss.)
Posted

On the other hand:

 

https://archive.is/9kKDg

 

Quote

Tesla stock plunged 15 percent on Monday, its steepest drop in five years. The price is down over 50 percent since its December highs. Tesla owners, disgusted with Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn tactics for the Trump administration, are selling their vehicles at a big loss. And Tesla showrooms across the country are becoming magnets for large crowds of protesters who want to see the company fail spectacularly.
But at least Musk can still count on one guy to have his back.

 

Quote

“I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???”


But it will probably take more than a Cybertruck in the presidential motorcade to make Tesla great again. It will take an actual commitment to more affordable electric vehicles. It will take a more serious and safer approach to driverless cars. And it may take a change of leadership to get the company back on track. Let’s run down the company’s problems.
 

 

Spoiler

Sales slump
Trump’s election last year sent Tesla’s stock price soaring, as investors rewarded Musk for making the right political bet. It hit a record high of $488 in mid-December; by early March, it had sunk to roughly $226.

The wipeout erased over $800 billion in market value, Tesla’s steepest drop in years. Musk’s own net worth took an over $100 billion hit. (But don’t worry: he’s still the richest man in the world.)

What happened? Setting Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) side quest and the resulting protests aside for a moment, the simplest explanation is that Tesla’s sales suck. The company produced 4 percent fewer cars in 2024 than it did the previous year. And its deliveries were essentially flat. Tesla earnings came in light, even with a Bitcoin boost.

In California, Tesla’s biggest market in the US, its sales dropped almost 8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 and 12 percent for the year. Coastal elites’ love affair with the brand has soured.

And it’s not just in the US. In February, Tesla’s sales were down 10 percent in Spain, 42 percent in Sweden, 45 percent in France, 48 percent in Norway and Denmark, 53 percent in Portugal, 55 percent in Italy, and a whopping 76 percent in Germany. Musk’s endorsement may have helped Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party place second in the recent election, but it doesn’t seem to have improved his company’s flagging sales in Europe — down 45 percent in January year over year.

In China, the world’s largest car market, Tesla is on a sustained losing streak. The company has been backsliding for the past five consecutive months on a year-on-year basis, according to data from the country’s Passenger Car Association. Some of this is likely related to a temporary factory suspension to accommodate the new Model Y Juniper assembly line, but rising competition from domestic automakers like BYD is putting increased pressure on Tesla.
And unlike BYD, Tesla doesn’t sell any hybrid vehicles. It has nothing to fall back on when consumers feel anxious about the future of electric vehicles.
 

An aging lineup
A frequent criticism you see about Tesla is that the company’s vehicle lineup is getting a little long in the tooth. The Model X turns 10 this year, while the Model S is pushing 15. Both vehicles have only received minor updates since their initial launch. (A Tesla executive promised a refresh later this year.)

The Model 3 and Model Y, which represent the bulk of the company’s automotive revenues, were both updated recently, but the lag in regular updates has opened a window of opportunity for Tesla’s competitors. Consumers interested in plug-in power suddenly have a wealth of choices as newer, more interesting EVs from Hyundai, Kia, Honda, and General Motors hit the market.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s only new model to be introduced in the last five years is the Cybertruck, which has been recalled seven times since its launch. Musk has said that frequent software updates obviate the need for a more regular cadence of model refreshes.

While Tesla sales dropped, sales of non-Tesla EVs continued to climb. Americans bought a record 1.3 million electric cars, an increase of 7.3 percent year over year, according to Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book. EVs now claim 8.1 percent of the market in the US.
Americans aren’t souring on electric vehicles — they’re just over Tesla.

No affordable models
For years, Musk has been promising to make an affordable electric vehicle, likely priced at $25,000. He first mentioned it in a 2018 interview, saying, “A $25,000 car, that’s something we can do.” Then, in 2020, at the company’s first Battery Day event, he speculated that Tesla could eventually produce upward of 20 million of these vehicles in a year — or roughly twice the current production of Toyota, GM, or Volkswagen.


Musk has said the more affordable EV would be built on the company’s next-generation vehicle platform. But rather than prioritize a vehicle that investors took to calling the “Model 2,” he spent Tesla’s resources on the expensive, polarizing Cybertruck. And after some initial excitement, the truck has turned into a flop. Musk predicted that Tesla would eventually sell 500,000 Cybertrucks a year. Last year, the company only sold an estimated 40,000.

Musk has also actively gummed up the works for a cheaper Tesla vehicle. Last year, he reportedly canceled the company’s plans to build a low-cost electric vehicle in favor of going all in on a robotaxi. But after some pushback, he claimed that a cheaper Tesla was back on the menu — only now, the vehicles are expected to be built on the same platform as the Model 3 and Model Y. Now, investors are worried that this new vehicle will cannibalize Model 3 and Model Y sales rather than boost the company’s profits overall.

Meanwhile, Kia and Volkswagen have announced plans to actually produce affordable EVs. And China has cracked the code on budget-priced, highly affordable EVs. The BYD Seagull, for example, was the country’s bestselling vehicle last summer, with about 190 miles of range and a sticker price of around $10,000. Even with a 100 percent tariff, the Seagull would still sell for a price much cheaper than most US-made EVs.

Robotaxi blues
Of course, Musk doesn’t think Tesla even needs a $25,000 vehicle. The company’s future is in AI — specifically self-driving cars and humanoid robots. In October 2024, he undercut his company’s own guidance to make “affordable models” by commenting, “I think having a regular $25,000 model is pointless. It would be silly. It would be completely at odds with what we believe.”

Musk now believes that Tesla is on the verge of solving autonomy. He’s claimed that fully autonomous vehicles are right around the corner for almost a decade now. “Optimus has the potential to be north of $10 trillion in revenue,” he said during the most recent earnings call, referring to Tesla’s humanoid robots.

But while Musk bloviates about robots, Waymo and others are operating real driverless cars on the road. The Alphabet-owned company just launched its first partnership with Uber in Austin, Texas — Tesla’s headquarters and the city where Musk has said he plans on launching his own robotaxi project this summer.

There’s little evidence that Tesla is on the cusp of delivering what Waymo has already done. The promise that all Tesla vehicles built after 2016 have the hardware necessary for full self-driving turned out to be totally false. Musk said the company would replace the onboard computers for vehicle owners who bought the FSD package, a process he admitted would be “painful.” Tesla has already been targeted with a class action lawsuit claiming the company lied about the capabilities of its vehicles.

The Elon of it all
And then there’s Elon. And DOGE. And the fascist salute. And the chainsaw. And everything else going on behind those dark sunglasses.

Musk’s antics have turned the Tesla brand toxic. Disillusioned owners are selling their vehicles at big losses. Others are swapping in badges from other vehicle brands or using desperate-sounding stickers to signal their dissatisfaction with the billionaire CEO.

And even more are protesting outside Tesla showrooms as part of a grassroots effort to oppose Musk’s takeover of the federal government, damage the company’s stock price, and maybe even slash the world’s richest man’s net worth.

Separately, there have been a growing number of reports of arson and vandalism at the company’s stores. Tesla charging stations have been set on fire. A showroom in Oregon was shot up. A woman was arrested in Colorado for throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Tesla location. Tesla vehicles have been defaced with swastikas and expletives. Four Cybertrucks were destroyed in a fire in Seattle. The rage is real.

Keep in mind, Tesla’s sales were already dropping before all these incidents occurred. The growing dissatisfaction has led some analysts to predict even more dire numbers for the company’s first quarter results this spring.

What’s next?
It’s unclear what can turn the company’s fortunes around. Some supporters have started to openly question whether Tesla can continue to survive with Musk at the helm. But shareholders aren’t likely to jettison the controversial CEO yet, especially after voting to approve his multibillion-dollar pay package last summer. The outcome was a huge vote of confidence in Musk’s leadership — and a big validator of his behavior.

But that was pre-DOGE, before the salute, and before the stock wipeout. Tesla’s board is clearly feeling the pinch. Chair Robyn Denholm and director James Murdoch (son of Rupert Murdoch) both sold millions of dollars’ worth of shares in the past month.

A lot rests on Musk’s promises of a cheaper Tesla, a next-generation vehicle platform, and an actual working robotaxi service. President Trump can buy all the Teslas he wants, but if Tesla’s future is built on a bunch of falsehoods and fantasies, it’s unlikely the company can emerge from this fire unscathed.

 

Posted
13 minutes ago, C-Man said:


So you’re saying I need to dump everything I have into TSLA? (Sadly, you’ve been way more right than wrong WRT America’s slide into the abyss.)

I don't know if I'm there yet....but I might be.

At this point, investing in a "corruption index" of enterprises favored by the regime might not be a bad play at all.

Posted
6 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

but if Tesla’s future is built on a bunch of falsehoods and fantasies, it’s unlikely the company can emerge from this fire unscathed.

Oh.....good sir.  You're adorable.  "Built on falsehoods and fantasies" is our current national ethos.   Sounds to me like Tesla is set up for massive success.

Posted
3 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:


This is so fucking pathetic. The POTUS trying to help his billionaire buddy save a falling stock price. So embarrassing to be an American these days.

It's fake

Not that this kind of shit is beneath those two dipshits

Posted
22 hours ago, hornmpa96 said:

When did you have Viasat?

Teams calls are OK and it gives me an excuse to turn off my video (which I prefer for calls which could have easily been a conference call before Covid).

I need to upgrade my equipment to get Viasat’s unlimited plan which I will do before football season as I use more data watching football games during hunting season.

I've had starlink for a couple of years. I remember getting an email from Viasat announcing their unlimited data package after we switched. The issue with calls wasn't the video. Quality was good.  It was the audio. The ping was so bad that you'd get the annoying talking over each other shit. Starlink has no issue at all with that. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted

This thread was more fun when it was for giving guadaloopy a hard time about his FSD fantasies and not about how Elon is trying to destroy our country from the inside.

  • Hook 'Em 6
Posted
26 minutes ago, Covri said:

This thread was more fun when it was for giving guadaloopy a hard time about his FSD fantasies and not about how Elon is trying to destroy our country from the inside.

so was life

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 1
Posted
25 minutes ago, Covri said:

This thread was more fun when it was for giving guadaloopy a hard time about his FSD fantasies and not about how Elon is trying to destroy our country from the inside.

Jodie Foster Oscars GIF by The Academy Awards

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Haha 2
  • Drool 1
Posted
4 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

"Where is our goddamn fire support!?!"

"Sir!  Fire support is delayed because they had to stop and charge their batteries...but the cybertruck that tows the generator ran out of juice, so it has to charge it's battery before it can come forward and charge their batteries" 

Pray that the enemy doesn't put a few rounds into the battery pack. Or that they create a chokepoint consistent of car washes.

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Haha 1
Posted

Protesting Musk’s role in DOGE by picketing his dealerships will get you prosecuted as a domestic terrorist, if turnip gets his way.

Quote

People protesting against Tesla should be labelled domestic terrorists, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday at a White House media event designed to bolster Elon Musk's electric car company.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqjdg4x08ylo

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...