Elon Musk spoke on StockMKTNewz (Dec 22, 2022 in a Twitter space) and his words were notable so I am sharing his talk with you.  Some highlights are,

• Elon aims to see Tesla grow quickly in a recession, “Let’s grow as fast as we can, without putting the company at risk”
• Tesla is like no other car company. Elon explains, “the cars are upgradable to autonomy, and arguably an autonomous car is worth many times what a non-autonomous car is”

“I stand by my prediction that long term,
Tesla will be the most valuable company in the world.”
Elon Musk

Elon says he aims to see Tesla grow quickly in a recession, “Let’s grow as fast as we can, without putting the company at risk”

When asked if Tesla can sustain its current growth rate in the next few years or so (in a predicted recession), Elon Musk stated on StockMKTNewz,

“I’m just laying out what I see as, this is just my best guess at the future.  It’s not like I have some incredible crystal ball that’s an exact predictor of the future, so with all appropriate caveats but the reality is, if we are in a recession, and I think we are in a recession, and I think 2023 is going to be quite a serious recession and it’s going to be, in my opinion, comparable to 2009. 

I don’t know if it’s going to be a little worse or a little better, but I think it is likely to be comparable.  It means demand for any kind of optional discretionary item, especially if it’s a big-ticket item will be lower with the FED increasing rates.

Like when you are heading into a recession you should be reducing the FED rate not increasing it.  So that amplifies the difficulty, so now you have a sort of structural demand which is obviously going to be lower in a recession and you’ve amplified the effect of the cost of a car because they’re almost all bought with debt, so you get a double whammy is what I’m saying. 

So the obvious choice in that scenario is you want to grow unit volume which case you’ll have to adjust prices downward or you want to grow at a lower rate or go steady, there’s sort of a choice there.

My inclination would be to still grow. Let’s grow as fast as we can, without putting the company at risk which would mean in that scenario profits would be low to negative during a recession, provided the cash position is okay.

I think that’s still the right move long-term because there’s something that Tesla possesses that other car companies do not which is extremely fundamental. That is the cars are upgradable to autonomy, and arguably an autonomous car is worth many times what a non-autonomous car is.”  

“there’s something that Tesla possesses that other car companies do not
which is extremely fundamental. That is the cars are upgradable to autonomy,
and arguably an autonomous car is worth many times what a non-autonomous car is”
Elon Musk

Tesla is like no other car company

Elon Musk continued,

“So even if you’re margins are extremely low in selling the car, the subsequent upgrade to it being autonomous is worth a lot.

That’s something that no other car company can do. Only Tesla can do that. 

I stand by my prediction that long term, Tesla will be the most valuable company in the world.  I’m actually fairly confident that this will be what happens. 

What I cannot predict, because there are many things outside of my control, is what will be the valuation along the way there.  That is subject to a lot of emotional elements on the stock market subject to lots of macroeconomic conditions. 

But I would say, long term Tesla is probably, my best guess, the most valuable company in the world in less than 5 years.”

“So even if you’re margins are extremely low in selling the car,
the subsequent upgrade to it being autonomous is worth a lot.
That’s something that no other car company can do.
Only Tesla can do that.”
Elon Musk

CONCLUSION

We are likely heading into a difficult recession in 2023.  Elon Musk will not put Tesla, Inc. at risk and at the same time he will “grow unit volume in which case you’ll have to adjust prices downward.”  This is a smart move as Tesla possesses something that no other car company has.  Teslas are all upgradeable to autonomy.  Elon said an autonomous car is “worth many times what a non-autonomous car is” and I agree.

I have been using Tesla autonomy for over 2 years now and it is advanced to the level where I can transport across the city of Austin during “rush hour” with zero disengagements. There are many Tesla owners that are having the same experience in different cities across the USA. However, the most valuable thing that no other car company has is Elon Musk for CEO. This is Tesla’s number one asset.

Read about the magic of Tesla autonomy in these articles

If You Haven’t Used Autopilot Yet, Why Not? (3 Essentials) This article is for everyone who has ever thought, “I love my Tesla, but I will never do Autopilot, it’s too scary.”  I am with you, it can be scary. This article covers 3 areas,

1. Tesla Autopilot is safer than a human driving
2. Enabling Autopilot during a drive is easy
3. You can use Autopilot on your daily drives and disable it anytime during a drive

Enjoying Tesla Autonomy What makes a road trip more fun? Tesla Autopilot definitely does! Freeway driving is also safer when there are eight cameras looking out for your family’s safety.

Do you like reading interviews with Elon?

Elon Musk Conversation with Reporters (Only 4 minutes long and packed with information)

Elon Musk Interview with Xenia Wickett in Norway (ONS 2022 Stavanger Conference August 29th) Less than 25 min long! (full interview) 

_{Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – This article was created by Gail Alfar with the goal to preserve this interview in text or written form for the purpose of 1. education and 2. preserving the brilliant insight and words of Elon Musk. January 15, 2023}