Despite the skepticism of Elon Musk about the dangers of the coronavirus COVID-19, Tesla has to reckon with everyone’s concern about this problem. The world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles is preparing to stop production in the United States, while in China, on the contrary, the Tesla plant, with the support of local authorities, has resumed operation. Design and development in China: this could be Tesla’s next model
At the end of last year, Tesla launched its own factory in Shanghai with a capacity of 250 thousand cars per year, and in the future this capacity can be doubled. But, according to Autohome, in January the Shanghai Tesla Gigafactory collected only 2625 cars, in February – 3898. The reason for such low volumes is understandable – coronavirus infection: it led to a halt of a significant part of Chinese industry and harsh quarantine for the population. In February, because of this, the Chinese market for new cars fell by 79%, but in March the infection in China began to decline, and now the country is cautiously returning to normal life, while the authorities and doctors are not weakening control over the situation with the spread of the virus, like his world tour, COVID-19 seems to have just begun.
The Tesla factory received tens of thousands of protective masks for employees from the Chinese authorities, disinfectants and modern non-contact thermometers to measure the temperature before the shift. The government also provided workers with dormitories and transport, and established an uninterrupted supply of food. Only about a hundred additional people in the state are responsible for preventive measures and production safety in an epidemic mode. In general, the plant in Shanghai resumed full operation, albeit in a paramilitary, so to speak, mode.
In the United States, meanwhile, problems are just beginning: city and state authorities, in anticipation of the exponential growth of those infected, are issuing resolutions on the need to close all businesses not related to the livelihoods of the population. This means that the Tesla based factory in Fremont, California, will be forced to stop working for at least three weeks and increase the already considerable waiting times for customers ordered cars (Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers).
On March 6, Ilon Musk published a memorable Tweet in which he called panic because of the coronavirus a fool, which caused a flurry of criticism in his address on social networks and the media. In letters to employees, Musk said that the risk of dying from a coronavirus is less than from an accident, and that COVID-19 is not even one of the top 100 health risks in the United States. Nevertheless, Musk allowed employees who feel bad physically or emotionally (experiencing panic and anxiety) not to go to work.
At the time of this publication, the coronavirus was detected in all states of America, the total number of infected was close to six thousand, and more than a hundred died. Car factories in the United States and neighboring Canada are preparing for quarantine, and dealership showrooms have already begun to close doors and dismiss employees. Your Tesla’s key is implanted in your body
Against this background, the value of Tesla’s shares is falling under the malevolent comments of those who condemn Mask’s position on COVID-19 – they thought you thought it was nothing, but now get it. Yesterday, the value of Tesla shares on the New York Stock Exchange dropped to $ 430.2. It was record high on February 19 – then the day closed at around 917.4 dollars per share, that is, Tesla has more than doubled in price in a month, and in the near future the trend is likely to remain negative. We add that the lowest price for the last year was fixed on March 6, 2019 – $ 178.9, and then there was no mention of a coronavirus: the low price was due to objective difficulties within the company, poor financial reporting and uncertainty in the eccentric manager of the company , that is Ilon Mask.
Now investors are exempted from the shares of all major automobile companies without exception in anticipation of a powerful and protracted decline in global sales, but Mask’s provocative statements, of course, also played a role. However, not the first time.