Tesla watchers may have noticed that the Model S and Then on an earnings call on Wednesday, Musk confirmed our suspicions, announcing the end of production for both product families.
The soon-to-be-discontinued Model S is the oldest actively produced model, having been in existence since 2012. It was more or less the replacement for the Roadster, the car you probably recognized as “Oh look a Tesla” when it was new. The doomed X, a luxury crossover SUV, arrived three years later to serve the American taste for tall cars. X also has such a door back to the future car.
The remaining non-Cybertruck models are the Model 3, also known as the “cheapest”, and the Model Y, also known as the “cheapest crossover SUV”.
“We expect to wind down production of the S and
As my colleague Zack Estrada said, part of the motive behind the shutdown is, apparently, Tesla’s plans to build robots. The company needs to free up space at its Fremont, California plant for the mass production of millions of Tesla Optimus bots.
Telsa has no choice but to make some big changes like this as it attempts to fulfill the bizarre promises Elon Musk has made in recent years to transition from a car company to an automation company. Never mind that automation is more of a vague concept than a product – encompassing software, robotic factories, self-driving devices, data, and things like that.
Musk is essentially telling investors not to be sentimental about old ideas like Tesla is a car company. He says that his robots are the future of medical care, and that they will literally make everyone rich. No seriously, they claim that their humanoid robot will “eliminate poverty and provide universal high income for all.”
So while he’s selling a dream, he needs some stupid old “cars” that can “make money for his company”, and he’s selling it not to customers, but to investors. What’s more, Wall Street is, somehow, pursuing that dream.
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