Amidst Tuesday’s steep drop in Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) due to reports of the US Department of Justice’s investigation on Elon Musk’s “funding secured” tweet last August, former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has aired his prediction about the electric car maker’s future. While speaking in a segment of CNBC‘s Closing Bell, Lutz noted that Tesla is an “automobile company that is headed for the graveyard.”
Lutz noted that Elon Musk is a “nice guy,” but he does not know how to run a car company. Lutz also expressed his reservations about Tesla’s capability to produce the Model 3 at scale, pointing out the Fremont plant’s low vehicle output.
“They will never make money on the Model 3 because the cost is way too high. He’s got 9,000 people in that assembly plant producing less than 150,000 cars a year. The whole thing just doesn’t compute. It’s an automobile company that is headed for the graveyard,” Lutz said.
The former GM executive further noted that in a year or two, the electric car maker would likely not be around anymore. Lutz even opted to add a reference to a documentary that featured Tesla in the past, Revenge of the Electric Car, which is the sequel to the film Who Killed the Electric Car, a documentary that covered the rise and fall of GM’s well-received yet short-lived electric vehicle, the EV1.
“Tesla has no tech advantage, no software advantage, no battery advantage. No advantages whatsoever. The jaws are tightening, and I think in another year or two we’ll see a movie called Who Killed Tesla, a conspiracy movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio,” Lutz said.
The former GM Vice Chairman’s statements stand in stark contrast to recent comments from GM’s current CEO Mary Barra. Earlier this month, while speaking at an Axios-sponsored event in Boston, Massachusettes, Barra gave a nod of respect to Tesla, whom she dubbed as the company to beat when it comes to the creation of premium, high-performance electric cars. Barra even noted that she sees Tesla as a “capable” rival in the auto market, particularly in terms of GM’s own efforts to design and roll out its own electric cars.
“[Tesla has] very capable electric vehicles. When we look at the landscape of competition from a car company perspective, whether it’s Tesla or whether it’s some of the global [equipment manufacturers], there’s very capable competition, and that’s what kind of drives us. That’s why we’ve been so aggressive on investing in technology and moving quickly,” she said.
Both Lutz and Barra are GM executives who have acknowledged the need to come up with vehicles that stand apart from traditional fossil fuel-powered automobiles. GM, for one, created the Chevrolet Volt hybrid during Bob Lutz’s tenure in the company, and the Chevy Bolt EV, an all-electric car that has been well-received, was released with the support of Mary Barra.
Tesla, for its part, has released a statement on Tuesday clarifying that it has only received a voluntary request for documents from the DOJ following Elon Musk’s now-infamous “funding secured” tweet.
“Last month, following Elon’s announcement that he was considering taking the company private, Tesla received a voluntary request for documents from the DOJ and has been cooperative in responding to it. We have not received a subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process. We respect the DOJ’s desire to get information about this and believe that the matter should be quickly resolved as they review the information they have received.”
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0 likes 4 days ago
0 likes 4 days ago
0 likes 4 days ago
Lutz is speaking out on behalf of GM. Barra needs to privately tell him to knock his crap off, and if he doesn’t stop, publicly rebuke him. Have the media stop labeling him as “Former GM Executive” and instead label him as “Exhiled GM Executive” or something along those lines instead.
And if she doesn’t, then we need to call out GM as being two-faced. Lutz is still going around proudly flashing his badge as a (Former) GM Executive – he may not currently be one, but he’s able to throw weight around in the media like he is one.
0 likes 4 days ago
Not both, just Lutz. As noted by others, media needs to stop labeling Lutz as associated with GM since he does not speak for them now. They should instead label him as Chairman of Via Motors. I don’t know where all this vitriol comes from, back when, Lutz showed respect for Tesla and credited Tesla for spurring GM to create the Volt. Now Lutz has not succeeded with his electric truck company and I think he is bitter.
0 likes 3 days ago
“They both are FUDders and very dumb people.”
Not both, just Lutz. As noted by others, media needs to stop labeling Lutz as associated with GM since he does not speak for them now. They should instead label him as Chairman of Via Motors. I don’t know where all this vitriol comes from, back when, Lutz showed respect for Tesla and credited Tesla for spurring GM to create the Volt. Now Lutz has not succeeded with his electric truck company and I think he is bitter.
Sorry i was to hasty about Barra. You are right. Thank you for correcting me.
0 likes 5 hours ago
0 likes 3 hours ago
This guy is a liar. I just did a video proving all of his points are lies. Check it out if you want to know the truth. This guy makes no sense and has ZERO facts behind his points. Absolute FUD!
Where is the video? Can we have a link for it? In Delco near Philly. Thanks neighbor; keep up the good work as your video and your uniform suggests.
