Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Tesla shareholders are bracing themselves for the carmaker\u2019s worst performance in seven years in quarterly results this week, as it wrestles with slowing demand and a brutal price war.But they also want to know whether Elon Musk\u2019s company is in the midst of a major change in direction, after reports that it was slowing plans for a cheaper $25,000 electric car \u2014 known unofficially as the Model 2 \u2014 in favour of focusing on self-driving \u201crobotaxis\u201d.Musk has denied there has been any change in plan on the Model 2, but has also said that focusing on autonomy was \u201ca blindingly obvious move\u201d and last week announced that a Tesla robotaxi would launch on August 8.Investors, who are already digesting a steadily falling share price, disappointing sales figures, and a contentious plan to move company headquarters from Delaware to Texas, face another conundrum: whether Tesla will become a large-scale manufacturer, or a smaller provider of autonomous technology.\u201cIt\u2019s always been a margin versus volume debate for them, and this is the latest twist,\u201d said James Anderson, a managing partner at Lingotto Investment Management, which holds Tesla shares.\u201cWhether it is a good twist depends vitally and decisively on what the shift to autonomous brings,\u201d he told the Financial Times.The public unveiling of the robotaxi in August \u201cmay well be make-or-break time for [Tesla\u2019s] long-promised\u201d self-driving technology, he added.Tom Slater from Baillie Gifford, a top-15 Tesla shareholder, said this year would be \u201cquieter\u201d for Tesla sales, but added that investors were enthusiastic about the potential of its self-driving cars. \u201cIf you look at all the reviews of the latest version of their full self-driving software, it\u2019s a massive leap forward,\u201d he said during a recent presentation.Tesla\u2019s \u201cfull self-driving\u201d mode \u2014 which customers can access for $99 a month \u2014 allows the car to steer, brake and accelerate without human intervention. But it is not fully autonomous because it still requires the driver to pay attention. Tesla investor Christopher Tsai from Tsai Capital said that while he expected competition for electric vehicles would intensify and that Tesla would lose market share, \u201cwe also believe the company will increase production and deliveries substantially in the years to come and further its lead in autonomous driving\u201d.Gary Black, managing partner of The Future Fund, another shareholder, said many investors were asking him what the company would do this week. \u201cMuch depends on how [Musk] frames timing of the $25K\u201d car, he said, adding that he still expected production to start in 2026 \u201cdespite robotaxi prioritisation\u201d.However, Barclays analyst Dan Levy said investors seeking clarity about Tesla\u2019s strategy were likely to be disappointed. \u201cPlans for Model 2 will likely get most attention but don\u2019t expect a satisfying answer,\u201d Levy said.The company\u2019s quarterly results are also expected to be underwhelming. Analysts are predicting they will show the lowest gross margin since early 2017, when it had just begun manufacturing its first mass-market car, the Model 3.Levy said he expected \u201cmodestly negative\u201d free cash flow, which would be the first quarter of negative cash since the start of 2020.Tesla has already reported an 8 per cent fall in car sales in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2023.The downbeat news and questions about direction may even prompt a change of heart among some diehard fans.\u201cWe view Tesla\u2019s shift as thesis-changing, and worry the stock will need to undergo a potentially painful transition in ownership base,\u201d said Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner, who downgraded the stock from buy to hold.\u201cInvestors previously focused on Tesla\u2019s EV volume and cost advantage will potentially throw in the towel and eventually be replaced by AI\/tech investors with longer time horizons.\u201dHe added: \u201cThere is considerable risk from going [all in] for autonomy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Tesla shareholders are bracing themselves for the carmaker\u2019s worst performance in seven years in quarterly results this week, as it wrestles with slowing demand and a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}