TSLA corporate outlook

[cwerdna]

^^^
Indeed. WAY before (probably years) this whole thing w/Elon wanting to take TSLA private, the Saudi kingdom had been looking to diversify and develop other sources of income, expertise and technology once their oil runs out or run too low to provide much income/revenue.

[SageBrush]

Diversify. They happen to also bee seeing fleets of EVs for use their as well as EV limos.

Yep. If one ignores for a moment that they are radical Sunni zealots, their actions mimic Norway.

[WetEV]

Yep. If one ignores for a moment that they are radical Sunni zealots, their actions mimic Norway.

Similar, MAYBE. Yet I don't see much about how many electric cars are in the Kingdom, unlike Norway.

UAE and Dubai have electric cars. Few in the Kingdom. UAE and Dubai have Supercharger, Destination Telsa locations. Saudi Arabia does not.

When a threat to over half of the economy is growing at 30%, one might be scared. Saudi Arabia has been planning, saving and investing for the end of oil based on pumping the last barrel for a long time. They don't want the price too high, or alternatives will be developed. They don't want the price too low, as they want the rest of the world drained of oil as well. The idea is to maximize Saudi profits, a rational plan. Their interest, not ours. The thought that the oil age ends before the last barrel is a direct threat to the Kingdom's stability. If they can delay that threat, all the better.

So buy and kill Tesla is a rational response. I'm of course not sure that is the plan, but I wouldn't exclude it. Probably will not matter, much, as the genie is out of the lamp. Killing Tesla might remove a majority of electric cars make and sold in the USA today, but not China, not Japan and not Europe. 18 years ago the threat was understood.

"Thirty years from now there will be a huge amount of oil - and no buyers. Oil will be left in the ground. The Stone Age came to an end, not because we had a lack of stones."

[dgpcolorado]

...What would a kingdom economically dependent on oil extraction want to do with an electric car company, other than to shut it down?

Easy answer: continue their longstanding attempt to diversify away from a near total economic dependence on oil. Nothing new there.

As for shutting Tesla down, Musk believes that most current shareholders will remain with the private company, so the Saudis would own substantially less than a controlling interest:

My best estimate right now is that approximately two-thirds of shares owned by all current investors would roll over into a private Tesla.

https://www.tesla.com/blog/update-taking-tesla-private


Nevertheless, I'm not too comfortable with Tesla being dependent on one of the most evil and repressive countries in the world. Not that much of the world hasn't been dependent on Saudi Arabia for most of the last century, so not much new there, I guess.

[LTLFTcomposite]

Starting to look like this was just casual tweeting of wishful thinking by Musk, financing is not lined up and the SEC isn't amused. Lawsuits will fly.

[GRA]

Starting to look like this was just casual tweeting of wishful thinking by Musk, financing is not lined up and the SEC isn't amused. Lawsuits will fly.

Yeah, considering the guy's run four or five publicly-traded companies, people have to be asking "Elon, what the hell were you thinking?"

The SEC reportedly sent subpoenas to Tesla concerning Elon Musk's tweets about taking Tesla private

https://www.businessinsider.com/sec-rep ... ets-2018-8

Tesla stock drops on report that the SEC has subpoenaed the automaker

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-t ... story.html

[GRA]

Via IEVS:

Bollinger Asks Tesla If It Can Use Superchargers

https://insideevs.com/bollinger-asks-te ... rchargers/

Bollinger Motors B1 electric truck at a Tesla Supercharger? That might become a sight in the near future if the startup truck maker gets an answer from Tesla. . . .

Bollinger took the opportunity to openly ask Elon Musk about Superchargers on Twitter.

There’s no answer from Musk just yet though. And we’re thinking he’s got quite a lot going on right now, so perhaps this Tweet will get overlooked.

The all-electric off-road Bollinger B1 is expected to hit the market in 2019 (initial production). The number of claimed reservations stand at some 10,000. . . .

Bollinger B1 specs are included in the article.

Also IEVS:

Tesla Reportedly Sues Ontario Government For Tax Credit Discrimination

https://insideevs.com/tesla-reportedly- ... imination/

. . . After the new Ontario government took office, there was little doubt that they are going to end the cap-and-trade program. After all, it was part of their political campaign goals. The program basically allowed users to trade-in their cars for an up to $14,000 CAD rebate on their new plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle. The EV incentives program was supported from the 10-cent per liter tax fuel tax, which has now gone away.

However, the fallout of the incentive cut is slowly beginning to cover the Canadian political scene, as Tesla is reportedly suing the Ontario government for tax credit discrimination.

According to various sources, Tesla is alleging it has suffered “substantial harm” and lost sales amid the cancellation of the electric vehicle rebate. The mid-July cut off the province’s Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program (EHVIP), brought on by the previous Liberal government and scrapped by the Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left a bad taste in Tesla’s mouth. When the government canceled the program, the province promised to honor the incentive for those customers who have their vehicle delivered, registered and plated before September 10th – but, only if the purchase was made from a dealer, not directly from a manufacturer. And guess what, that targets Tesla pretty directly, proving to be fertile ground for a lawsuit.

The lawsuit – filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by Tesla Canada – states the company is an Ontario-licensed Tesla dealer, arguing that their customers no longer qualify for an incentive, unlike those buying electric cars from other companies. For Tesla Canada, their argument is that the local government “deliberately and arbitrarily” excluded its customers, without providing any warning or the chance to offer any input over the matter. . . .

Via GCR:

Opinion: Tesla's CEO needs help, but will he take it?

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/11 ... he-take-it

Just as Tesla is beginning to straighten out manufacturing problems with its Model 3, the executive suite seems in the midst of a nuclear meltdown.

In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times on Thursday, CEO Elon Musk admitted to being spread thin, having the most difficult and painful year in his career, and to hastily dashing off a market-moving tweet in his car on the way to the airport.

As pressure mounts on Tesla and Musk to make the company profitable in time to pay down a mountain of looming debt, the CEO’s public communications in recent months have become increasingly hasty, shrill, sometimes petty, and even juvenile.

Musk has had to apologize several times for hastily lashing out at critics, including cutting off an investor on the company’s June quarterly earnings call who was asking a question about the company’s expenses, and directly insulting a rescuer in Thailand on Twitter.

The best example is his tweet last week about taking the company private—in which he said he had “funding secured” that turned out not to be so secure . . . it opened the door to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission that the company can ill afford.

Many of Tesla’s difficulties seem largely self-inflicted by the thin skin and reactionism of its chief executive.

Some observers have suggested that Twitter is the problem, and inside reports suggest that the company’s board has asked Musk to stay off Twitter. Looking at Musk's feed suggests he has backed off tweeting about the company somewhat. . . .

By most accounts, Musk is a difficult visionary of the kind often required to launch and build world-changing companies, especially one such as Tesla with a mission to overturn one of the dominant paradigms of a century and overthrow the hegemony of one of the largest and most entrenched industries in the world.

If we’ve learned nothing more from Musk’s tweets, it may be that if he wants to continue as CEO of a such an ambitious company, Musk needs to grow up.

The Times reported that the company’s board is seeking a new No. 2 executive, possibly a chief operating officer, to take some of the day-to-day load off Musk.

Yet it’s easy to see how an executive with enough talent to run the day-to-day operations of such a grand enterprise might not be willing to live under the thumb of such a petulant micromanager. He’s famously prone to not taking advice. . . .

In an interview in which he admitted the toll his world-changing company is taking on his personal life, he said, "If you have anyone who can do a better job, please let me know," he said. "They can have the reins right now."

The problem is, if Musk can’t set his melodrama aside, it may be hard to find anyone else willing to hold those heavy reins.

[LTLFTcomposite]

Maybe it's just the lighting but in some recent pics EM looks like death warmed over. There's gotta be some concern by the board he's freaking out. The man needs a vacation and my guess is he won't take one.
From historical accounts Henry Ford was borderline cuckoo, maybe that's what it takes to make that kind of impact. It would be a terrible loss if we wake up one of these days too sad news.

[LTLFTcomposite]

In a related story there was news President Trump expressed interest in changing reporting periods for public companies from quarterly to semiannually. I'd think Tesla would benefit from that as would a lot of other companies, reduce short term thinking just a little, but ulterior motives will be assumed.

[GRA]

Maybe it's just the lighting but in some recent pics EM looks like death warmed over. There's gotta be some concern by the board he's freaking out. The man needs a vacation and my guess is he won't take one.

From historical accounts Henry Ford was borderline cuckoo, maybe that's what it takes to make that kind of impact. It would be a terrible loss if we wake up one of these days too sad news.

The front page article in the local rag strongly implied he's heading for a breakdown if not already there, based on his NYT interview (here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/busi ... tesla.html ) I agree he needs some time off and needs to step back, as his behavior has become increasingly erratic. It's not the first time he's looked pouchy and punch drunk, and it's never good for stability when so much of your company's mystique is tied up with a single individual.