Tesla CEO Elon Musk could be okay if the automaker went bankrupt if a rival company built a greater automotive, board member Hiromichi Mizuno said on the World Government Summit on Tuesday.
“I feel that’s his philosophy and Tesla’s philosophy,” Mizuno said, in response to CNBC. “We actually desired to shift the entire system of transportation right into a sustainable energy system.”
Mizuno said that Musk has stated that he wouldn’t mind Tesla going bankrupt if another person got here up with a greater automotive:
“I disagree each time Elon says I don’t mind Tesla stepping into bankruptcy if someone else comes up with a greater automotive.”
Tesla has come narrowly near going bankrupt on several occasions. Through the company’s early days, when it was developing the unique Roadster, Tesla barely avoided shutting its doors after investors poured more cash in after Christmas in 2008. Again in 2017, through the company’s ramp-up of the Model 3, Musk stated Tesla was only a month away from running out of cash:
“Closest we got was a few month. The Model 3 ramp was extreme stress & pain for a very long time — from mid-2017 to mid-2019. Production & logistics hell.”
Musk has routinely referred so far in Tesla’s history as “production hell,” stating it was some of the difficult times of his life. Nonetheless, the manufacturing struggles the corporate went through were well price it, as they resulted in a considerable lead within the EV sector, which Tesla has, for probably the most part, been recognized because the industry leader across the board.
“In some cases, I feel that in some areas of the [Model 3], Tesla is 10 years ahead, especially in relation to the manufacturing,” automotive teardown expert Sandy Munro said.
Tesla ‘production hell’ wasn’t all bad, it resulted in a ten-year lead
But Musk has embraced competition, and as Tesla’s motto is “to speed up the world’s transition to sustainable energy,” the CEO has been each critical and supportive of other corporations which have entered the EV sector.
“We’re very excited to see that the large automotive corporations are embracing electric vehicles,” Musk said last 12 months. “Should you were to rewind the press releases to 5 years ago, that was not the case.”
When corporations have made moves that he has not necessarily seen the logic in, he has offered his advice. When Rivian began scoping out real estate for a brand new production facility, Musk really helpful the corporate get its first plant in regular operation before committing to a brand new facility. “It’s insanely difficult to succeed in volume production at reasonably priced unit cost,” Musk added.
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