This year, Tesla has experienced a series of setbacks, including a dramatic drop in stock prices, large-scale layoffs, factory production cuts, and Twitter chaos, to the point where this once-admired star company has suddenly been declared "doomed" by the media at the end of the year. Some people claim that Tesla is doomed because they genuinely believe it is, with Tesla stockholders being the primary group.
Tesla's stock price plummeted nearly 70% in 2022, with its market value falling from over $1 trillion to around $300 billion, making it the third-fastest declining stock among the 500 benchmark companies in the S&P 500 index.
The "culprit" behind Tesla's stock roller coaster is, of course, its stockholders. When the market is good, investors can boost Tesla to the heavens, calling it "honey"; but when the market is bad, they will also unhesitatingly throw Tesla's stock to the floor, shouting "stay away, Mrs. Bull."
On the other hand, some people claim that Tesla is doomed, not because they truly believe it is, but because they want to gain benefits by downplaying Tesla's prospects. It's like the saying goes, "when Heshen falls, Jiaqing eats well."
These people are mainly Tesla's competitors, including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, General Motors, Hyundai, Volvo, and others.
However, regardless of whether people think Tesla is viable or not, it is an undeniable fact that Tesla's development has encountered difficulties. The dramatic drop in stock prices, large-scale layoffs, and factory production cuts are merely complications of Tesla's predicament.
Some readers might ask at this point: What difficulties has Tesla encountered exactly?Upon closer examination, it becomes evident that Tesla's innovative capabilities are lacking, making it seem less cool. In the competition for pure electric vehicles, it is no longer leading by a wide margin.
Currently, Tesla, whether in terms of exterior design, pure electric technology, or intelligent driving, cannot dominate its competitors as it did in previous years.
The exterior design of Tesla's models has remained unchanged for years, and no matter how good-looking they are, there is a certain degree of aesthetic fatigue; moreover, its tech-savvy design style has essentially been imitated to the point of overexposure by major electric vehicle brands.
Conversely, there is a risk that it will be outperformed by its competitors. Especially in the Chinese market, Chinese electric vehicle brands centered around BYD are not inferior to Tesla in terms of pure electric technology and hardware foundation, and their prices are much better than Tesla's. As long as car owners are not overly fond of foreign brands, they will gradually abandon Tesla.
The same is true in the European and American markets, where Europe has Volkswagen and BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi (BBA), and America has General Motors and Ford. They are all vigorously developing pure electric vehicles, squeezing Tesla's original dominant advantage.
Under the challenge of emerging forces, Tesla's lack of innovation has greatly slowed its growth momentum. At the beginning of the year, Tesla expected to achieve a 50% increase in global sales, which now seems basically impossible to achieve.
For a technology-listed company, what people like about it is: having a story to tell (innovative products) and high growth expectations. Now, Tesla no longer has either of these, so it is somewhat reasonable for people to say that it is not doing well.
However, will Tesla really not be able to do well just because people shout about it? Or can it face difficulties head-on, make significant innovations, and create brilliance again?
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