Sales Goal: 20 Million Electric Cars Annually by 2030

Author: Li Ruiyi

“By 2030, we plan to sell 20 million electric cars each year,” Tesla Chairman Robin Denholm announced this ambitious target at the annual Tesla shareholders meeting held at the Tesla Gigafactory Texas in Austin on October 7th.

Volkswagen and Toyota, the current automobile industry leaders, produce and sell nearly 10 million vehicles annually each. But who has the confidence to sell 20 million electric cars annually? Of course, it’s none other than Tesla, the company that’s known for its bold ambition.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk attended the meeting to summarize the company’s achievements in the past year and reveal significant information about its vehicle production and sales targets, battery production, and headquarters relocation.

Musk exuded confidence throughout the meeting, but we have to take note of Tesla’s accomplishments.

Vehicle Models: Model 3 Becomes the World’s Best-Selling Luxury Car, Model Y to Be the World’s Best-Selling Car

After exchanging pleasantries, Musk bragged about Tesla’s record-breaking vehicle deliveries. He even claimed that Tesla “might be the fastest-growing large manufacturing object of any kind.”

Musk believes that rapid delivery growth is likely to continue, but it depends “very much on supply chain challenges.” He mentioned the chip shortage and expressed hope that it would soon be resolved. He is confident that the delivery growth rate can be maintained at over 50%.

Regarding the specific vehicle models, he mentioned that the Model 3 became the world’s best-selling luxury car. From a PowerPoint presentation he shared, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the Model 3 outperformed best-selling luxury cars such as the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class for the global luxury car title.

Looking forward, “we think that the Model Y will be the best-selling car model globally,” Musk predicted. He expects this milestone to be reached in 2023 if the Tesla Austin and Berlin factories achieve full production.

Supply Chain: Vehicle Production Progressing Slowly, Short-term Price Increases

Musk’s goal of making electric cars affordable for everyone contradicts Tesla’s recent price hikes

Musk has explained that “our supply chain is facing enormous cost pressures, so we have to raise car prices,” but he hopes that this is only temporary.

In addition to chips, batteries and other components are also in short supply. Musk reiterated the need for more batteries and told battery suppliers that if they produce more at reasonable prices, Tesla will buy as much as they can.

The shortage of chips and parts has also affected the launch of the electric truck Semi and the electric pickup Cybertruck. Musk expects the shortage of parts to continue until 2023, so Cybertruck and Semi will start production in 2022 and mass production in 2023. The Tesla Roadster is also expected to arrive in 2023.

Production capacity: existing factories continue to expand, no new factories added for now

When reviewing the past year, Robin Denholm mentioned that the Tesla Shanghai factory was in production and the battery factory began trial production. At the same time, two super factories have been built in Europe and the United States – the Berlin factory and the Texas factory.

In Musk’s speech, special praise was given to the Shanghai factory, which he called the one with the best quality, lowest cost, and highest stability. The output of the Shanghai factory has exceeded Tesla’s old factory in Fremont.

Musk also revealed plans to increase the output of the Fremont factory by 50%. The factory mainly produces Tesla’s Model S and X. For mass-produced products like the Model 3 and Y, Tesla’s plan is to produce them nearby. The progress of the Austin and Berlin factories in Texas is also very fast.

Musk also said that Tesla’s headquarters will be moved to Austin, Texas. But he emphasized that Tesla will not leave California and has a 50% expansion plan. However, he also said that the California factory has reached its limit. The super battery factory in Nevada also plans to increase its output by 50%.

The Texas factory will deliver some vehicles this year, but large-scale delivery will not be until the end of next year.

Regarding new factories, Musk said there are no plans at the moment. Site surveys will begin next year, and a decision to build new factories may be made in 2023.

Musk stated that Tesla’s long-term competitive advantage will be manufacturing. He said, “the thing that other companies will have trouble competing with Tesla on, is manufacturing.”

According to the latest data released on October 3, Tesla delivered over 240,000 cars globally in the third quarter of this year, setting a new record. In the first three quarters of this year, Tesla sold nearly 630,000 cars, compared to nearly 500,000 cars sold in all of last year.## Software: Tesla’s AI Day recruits candidates with significant effect and will open up autonomous driving capability

When referring to Tesla’s AI Day, Musk expressed that people should change their inherent views of Tesla. Although Tesla is an automotive company, it is also a software company. Musk believes that Tesla’s AI capabilities have not been well understood by the public.

Tesla is also designing a complete autonomous driving computer and making chips.

Musk pointed out that after the AI Day, there was a significant increase in applicants for AI positions.

Regarding autonomous driving, he believes that eventually all manufacturers will produce autonomous driving cars. He said that Tesla has an open attitude towards other manufacturers licensing autonomous driving. “Autonomous driving can help save lives and prevent injuries. We do not want to monopolize this technology. It is morally correct to permit other manufacturers to use it.”

Tesla is not without its troubles.

At this year’s annual shareholder meeting, shareholders will vote on nine proposals, including whether to remove Musk’s brother Kimbal Musk and media giant Rupert Murdoch’s son James Murdoch from the board of directors; whether to require Tesla to publish reports on diversity, human rights, and employment disputes; whether to reduce the number and terms of directors; and whether to remove certain supermajority voting rights……

These proposals all contain the shareholders’ discontent.

During the shareholder meeting, Tesla encountered a major problem. A black worker sued Tesla for racial discrimination, and a California jury awarded Tesla $137 million in compensation. Some shareholders demanded that Tesla report on the impact of using forced arbitration to resolve labor disputes.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.