Tesla shares fell 6% after news of Robotaxi delay | Wilnesh News

Tesla Shares fell about 6% on Thursday Bloomberg The electric car maker has reportedly delayed the launch of its Robotaxi by two months.

Following its previous announcement that it would launch its robotaxi on August 8, Tesla has postponed the launch date to October to give the project’s team more time to build a prototype, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Tesla did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Tesla shares plunged on Thursday after rising for 11 consecutive days on a better-than-expected second-quarter delivery report. The gains erased the stock’s losses for the year. However, the stock is now back in negative territory heading into 2024, a year marred by massive layoffs and declining sales in part due to an aging EV lineup and increased competition in China.

Tesla CEO Musk has promised shareholders for years to launch robotaxis. In 2015, he said Tesla cars would be “fully autonomous” within three years. In 2016, Musk said that by the end of the following year, Tesla would be able to drive one of its cars off-road without any human intervention.

These empty promises continued into 2019, when Musk said on a conference call with institutional investors that Tesla would have 1 million robotaxi-equipped vehicles on the road by 2020. Taxis, self-driving cars, or technology that could make robotaxis a reality. At the same time, companies such as alphabetical Waymo and Cruise, owners: General Motorshas surpassed Tesla.

After reporting dismal first-quarter earnings in April, Musk reiterated his vision for Tesla: to be a company dedicated to developing robotaxis that make money for its owners and a self-driving transportation network.

“If someone doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve the self-driving problem, I don’t think they should be an investor in the company,” Musk said on the earnings call. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter results later this month.

At Tesla, the “unveil” date does not indicate the date of the near-term commercial launch of a new product. For example, Tesla launched its all-electric heavy-duty truck Semi in 2017, but deliveries will not begin until December 2022.

—CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.

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