Tesla drops delivery goal of 20 million vehicles a year by 2030

BENGALURU/SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla has left out its goal of delivering 20 million vehicles a year by 2030 in its latest impact report published on May 23, another sign the company is moving away from electric cars as it shifts focus to robotaxis.

Chief executive Elon Musk said in 2020 that Tesla aspired to sell 20 million vehicles by the end of the current decade — twice as many as those sold by Toyota, the world's largest automaker. It reiterated the goal in its 2021 and 2022 impact reports.

But the company changed tack recently, dropping plans to produce an all-new model that was expected to cost US$25,000 (S$33,800), while touting autonomous driving technology as its main source of growth. It plans to host a launch event for its robotaxi on Aug 8.

Robotaxis and the company's humanoid robot Optimus will be "incredibly profound" for Tesla, Musk said on May 23 through a video-link at the annual "Viva Technology" conference in Paris.

He declined to answer a question on the timeline for Tesla's low-cost cars at the event.

He said in April that Tesla plans to bring forward the launch of new models, including affordable cars, to as early as late 2024. But Tesla said it plans to use current product lines for new affordable vehicles instead of new facilities, making a strategic change that would result in smaller cost reductions than expected and modest volume growth.

Reuters first reported that Tesla shelved its next-generation, cheaper electric cars in favour of robotaxis.

"A healthy proportion of Tesla's 2030 goal would have been the company's hitherto longstanding promise to introduce affordable cars at the US$25,000 mark," said Sandeep Rao, senior researcher at Leverage Shares, which owns Tesla shares.

"While the company currently promises to introduce 'more affordable' models in the future, this doesn't necessarily equate to cars costing US$25,000 being rolled out."

Tesla shares were down 3.5 per cent on May 23, falling about 30 per cent in 2024.

Slowing growth in electric vehicle demand and tough competition have hit demand for Tesla's vehicles. Its sales expanded 38 per cent in 2023, below the long-term annual target of 50 per cent.

Tesla warned in January that growth in deliveries would be notably lower this year.

It posted its first year-on-year sales drop in nearly four years during the January to March period in 2024.

In a bid to restructure, Tesla laid off over 10 per cent of its staff this year, including disbanding a Supercharger team.

The 2023 impact report also showed Tesla's fast-charging network had an uptime of 99.97 per cent, the highest in at least five years. However, some analysts and former employees have warned the division's performance could suffer due to the layoffs.

Tesla also did not compare the diversity of its workers to other companies in the report and it no longer states that a majority of its employees are from under-represented groups.

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