Elon Musk says Tesla might never bring its new ‘Model YL’, a new six-seat variant of the Model Y launched in China this week, to the US, and the reason for this is ridiculous.
He thinks Tesla won’t need it because of, you guessed it: autonomy.
Musk has been framing autonomy as Tesla’s salvation. He is on record as saying that you shouldn’t invest in Tesla unless you believe it will lead in autonomous driving, despite being wrong about Tesla solving autonomy virtually by the end of every year for the last six years.
The CEO’s belief that Tesla has been consistently on the verge of solving autonomy for the last 6 years has led to many bad decisions.
It has affected Tesla’s designs and features, like removing the gear and turn signal stalks, because he thought drivers wouldn’t need them by now. Now, Tesla is bringing back the turn signal stalk as an aftermarket upgrade.
Musk also canceled new Tesla models, such as the highly anticipated “$25,000 Tesla”, because he believed it wouldn’t be needed due to the advent of autonomy, despite an internal report that confirmed this was a bad idea.
Now, the CEO is adding another bad decision to the list.
Earlier this week, Tesla launched a new Model YL, a longer version of its best-selling electric SUV with six seats, in China.
As we pointed out in our article, this is a popular segment in China, and there’s already a lot of competition. Still, Tesla could easily bring this version to other markets, such as North America, where there’s less EV competition, and it could prove popular, as bigger vehicles are the norm in the US.
But CEO Elon Musk has now thrown cold water on the expansion of the Model YL in North America.
In response to Omar Qazi, a Tesla influencer known for defending Tesla and Musk’s every move, claiming that the reason Musk had yet to comment or share Tesla’s launch of Model YL is because it’s only available in China for now, Musk responded that Model YL is not planned for production in the US until the end of 2026 and it might never come:
“This variant of the Model Y doesn’t start production in the US until the end of next year. Might not ever, given the advent of self-driving in America.”
The CEO suggests that the new variant’s production in the US will lag behind China by more than a year, or may never materialize, because he believes the advent of autonomous driving in the US will render it obsolete.
Electrek’s Take
This is reason number 69,420 why Elon Musk shouldn’t be CEO of Tesla anymore.
As I already stated, I believe Model YL would be a bigger success for Tesla in North America than in China.
In China, Tesla was already expensive. Over 90% of Model 3 and Model Y buyers go for the base RWD versions of those vehicles due to the pricing.
Tesla’s decision to offer a more expensive AWD model won’t significantly increase its volumes in China.
Furthermore, EV competition is already intense in China, where Chinese EV companies don’t suffer from tariffs like they do in other markets. There are already several 6-seater electric SUV options that are cheaper than the new Model YL.
However, in North America, the Model YL could potentially undercut the few existing 6-seater and third-row electric SUV options and prove popular.
Yet, Musk delays the launch by more than a year and claims it may never happen due to autonomy.
It’s so stupid because even with autonomy, which I don’t believe will be as widespread as Musk claims next year, the Model YL would make sense as it would be a better Robotaxi with six seats.
For the sake of Tesla, Musk has to go. It’s unfortunate that shareholders don’t realize this or are too concerned about the short-term impact on the stock.
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