Former Stellantis CEO says Tesla may be out of the auto industry and may not exist in 10 years

Carlos Tavares, who resigned from his top position at the Jeep maker excellent Late last year, Elon Musk said that Tesla was under attack from its Chinese rival BYDwhich overtook Tesla in global electric vehicle sales earlier this year.

Because of that pressure, and with several projects already on his plate, CEO Elon Musk will likely eventually turn his attention elsewhere, Tavares said.

“We cannot rule out that at some point, he will decide to leave the automotive industry to refocus on humanoid robots,” he said. SpaceX Or artificial intelligence. Why Echo? In an interview. “Elon Musk will have left the auto industry.”

Tavares went on to say that BYD was eating Tesla’s lunch with more efficient and cost-effective vehicles.

“The market cap loss for Tesla shares would be enormous because this valuation is simply stratospheric,” he said. “I’m not sure Tesla will still be around in 10 years. It’s an innovative group, but it will efficiently defeat BYD.”

A Tesla spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company beat Wall Street expectations on Wednesday with revenue of $28 billion, up 12% year over year, and a 33% increase in deliveries in China, its second-largest market.

But over the past five years, Tesla’s market share in China has fallen to about 5% from 16% in 2020, partly due to competition from BYD. Same Musk as last year He said “Chinese car companies are the most competitive car companies in the world.”

Tesla shares were down about 2.5% on Friday afternoon and have been on a steep decline throughout the year. During the month of March, the company’s shares fell by as much as 39%. As of Friday, its stock was up 8.6% year to date.

Tavares’ comments come as the electric car maker tries to hold on to its hotshot CEO. Musk spent much of last year helping President Donald Trump as leader of the Government Efficiency Administration. At that time, it is He said Fox News, he was balancing his responsibilities “with great difficulty.”

Meanwhile, Tesla has faced setbacks in its supply chain, partly due to Trump’s tariffs and pressure on sales thanks to the elimination of the US electric vehicle tax credit.

The company has repeatedly said it needs to retain Musk and motivate him to achieve its long-term goals. A 10-year, $1 trillion CEO pay package, scheduled for a shareholder vote on November 6, aims to do just that — while also setting lofty goals like increasing the company’s market value by 500% to $8.5 trillion.

Two proxy consulting firms earlier this month recommended shareholders vote against the pay package, in part because they claim the board has too much leeway in determining when and how Musk achieves set goals. Tesla’s board of directors denies this allegation.

“This award aims to see Tesla grow more than any company in history,” Robin Denholm, Tesla chairman, said in a statement. “Every operational milestone, including product goals, must be validated by an extraordinarily ambitious and sustainable increase in market value.”