The impact of Elon Musk's move into politics a year ago continues to weigh on Tesla's business, with sales and profits down again significantly in the latest quarter.
The carmaker, which has faced boycotts for months, said on Wednesday that its revenue fell 12% and profits fell 16% in the three months to June as customers continued to hold off on purchases.
“The perception of Elon Musk, its CEO, has completely eclipsed the once popular and successful car brand,” Forrester analyst Deepanjan Chatterjee wrote in an email.
Tesla has become a “toxic brand inseparable from its leader.”
The electric vehicle, battery and robotics company's quarterly profit fell to $1.17 billion (£865.8 million), or 33 cents per share, from $1.4 billion (£1.03 billion), or 40 cents per share.
It was the third straight quarter of declines in earnings. The company's adjusted earnings were 40 cents a share, in line with Wall Street analysts' expectations.
Revenue fell from $25.5bn (£18.8bn) to $22.5bn (£16.6bn) in the April-June period, slightly above Wall Street analysts' forecasts.
Tesla shares fell 3% in after-hours trading.
On the earnings call, Musk talked less about selling cars and more about robotaxis, self-driving software, and robotics, which he said were the company’s future. But those areas haven’t been growing fast enough, and the gap between promises and earnings became apparent in the second quarter.
“It now appears management's focus will shift to robotaxis rather than increasing deliveries,” Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said of auto sales.
The main problem is that potential buyers, both in the US and Europe, are still hesitant to buy Tesla cars.
Musk has alienated many in the car market in the UK, France, Germany and elsewhere by backing far-right presidential candidates in Europe. Rival electric car makers like China’s BYD and Germany’s Volkswagen have taken advantage of Tesla’s weakness, taking market share from it.
Tesla has begun rolling out its paid robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and hopes to roll out self-driving taxis in several other cities soon. Musk has said he expects hundreds of thousands of such taxis to be on American roads by the end of next year.
In a conference call after the earnings call, Mr Musk said the service would likely be available to “half the population of the United States by the end of the year – that's our goal, if we get regulatory approval.”
He added: “We are proceeding very cautiously. We do not want to take any risks.”
The Austin tests went largely without major incidents, though there were a few alarming instances, such as when a robotaxi drove into oncoming traffic.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
