On April 20th, Tesla CEO Musk stated on Wednesday that Tesla may launch fully autonomous driving (FSD) technology this year, and that this technology will bring considerable profits to offset some of the profit pressures caused by significant price reductions.
Musk said at the earnings conference, “I hesitate to say this, but I think we will release it this year.” We found that Musk had set target dates for achieving autonomous driving capabilities many times before, but failed to achieve them.
Tesla currently describes its FSD software as a test version. Musk said, “There are two steps forward and one step back between each release, but the trend is very clear, towards full autonomous driving and full autonomy.”
Due to some accidents, this technology has already attracted the attention of legal and regulatory agencies. Tesla stated that this technology does not make the car fully autonomous and still requires driver supervision.
Tesla’s CFO, Zachary Kirkhorn, said that the first-quarter car profit margin was not only affected by price cuts but also by delayed revenue from FSD software. “Once the software makes progress, this part of the revenue should be recognized.” Kirkhorn did not provide detailed information.
Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid said that Tesla is making some changes to the hardware of the car, which temporarily makes some new cars unable to use some FSD functions.
Tesla sells FSD software as an optional feature, with a price of up to $15,000. At the end of last year, Tesla canceled ultrasonic sensors on Model 3 and Model Y models and said that some features such as “smart summon” and “automatic parking” would be temporarily unavailable.
“We do have this unique strategic advantage,” Musk said, “We are making a car that, if autonomous driving can be achieved, the value of this asset will be much higher in the future than it is now.”
Tesla reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit margins on Wednesday, but Musk said that in the economic downturn, he would prioritize sales growth over profits.
