Tesla was beaten by BYD, and its net profit fell by 44%. Musk rarely admitted his mistakes.

Tesla recently released its third-quarter financial report for 2023, showing that its core performance has declined, with gross profit margin falling below 18% and net profit plummeting 44%, with its ability to make money reaching its lowest level in four years. This made Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who always loves to brag, become extremely cautious in the conference call after the financial report, and even bowed his head in a rare move, admitting that his strategic predictions were like pouring cold water on the company's future products and plans.

The financial report shows that Tesla delivered a total of 435,000 electric vehicles worldwide in Q3, a decrease of 6.67% from the previous quarter. Although some factories stopped production to upgrade production lines, it also reflects that the price reduction measures did not bring the expected sales growth.

Tesla's car sales revenue also fell, to $19.625 billion (about 143.573 billion yuan), a 7.73% drop from the previous quarter, even lower than Q1. The company's overall revenue was $23.35 billion (about 170.824 billion yuan), a 6.33% drop from the previous quarter.

Faced with such unsatisfactory financial performance, Musk showed unprecedented humility and calmness about the company's future development during the conference call.

He admitted that he had been too optimistic about the progress of fully autonomous driving (FSD) and said he wanted to lower everyone's expectations for the upcoming Cybertruck delivery.

He also said, "We are digging our own grave with the Cybertruck," because the model faces huge challenges in both mass production and profitability. He estimates that the Cybertruck's production ramp-up period will take 18 months, and it will be possible to achieve an annual production of 250,000 vehicles by 2025.

In addition, Musk also revealed that Tesla's Mexican super factory, which is being prepared for construction, will not be fully put into construction until global interest rates fall. He also said that Tesla's next-generation platform will be more traditional, "not so many new things", just to increase the output per minute, and the next generation of Tesla will focus more on practicality.

Musk's change of attitude is because Tesla is currently in a bottleneck period - it is indeed difficult to sell cars now.

In the global market, various brands are accelerating their new energy layout, new models are being launched one after another, and product strength has also been significantly improved.

In the Chinese market, Tesla has been suppressed by BYD.

BYD's Q3 sales volume was 822,100, of which 431,600 were pure electric models, while Tesla's sales in the global market totaled only 435,100, which is only comparable to BYD's domestic sales volume.

At a time when profit margins and net profits continue to decline, price cuts are no longer an effective means for Tesla. After all, Tesla has only two high-volume models, the Model 3 and Y.

Therefore, judging from the current situation, Tesla may regard the next high-volume model as the best way to boost its performance.

Previously, insiders revealed that Tesla plans to launch a compact hatchback priced at around 160,000 yuan (about 25,000 US dollars) around 2023. The car has a nominal range of about 400 kilometers and has excellent acceleration capabilities.

However, the launch of this new car, which is called "small steel cannon" by netizens, has not been smooth sailing. Even the name has not been determined. Musk once denied the name "Model 2" on social media and scoffed at this naming rule. Therefore, outside of the "SEXY" naming system, the naming of this new car is still an unresolved topic.

Although the Tesla hot hatch has not yet been officially unveiled, it has already attracted widespread attention and discussion. This car is expected to become a weapon for Tesla to enter the global mainstream market, and it is also likely to become the best-selling model in Tesla's history.

But achieving these goals is not easy. Tesla not only has to face challenges in battery supply, production scale, and delivery efficiency, but also has to cope with competitive pressure from all sides.

From the information currently known, the small steel cannon has good advantages in terms of price, performance, and automatic driving. But it also has disadvantages that cannot be ignored. For example, the exterior design, interior texture, detailed workmanship, and after-sales service may become the shortcomings of the small steel cannon.

These aspects are exactly the strengths of traditional car companies and new forces. Therefore, if small steel cannons want to be far ahead in the market, they need more strength and strategy to support them.

91che believes that although Tesla has encountered some difficulties and setbacks, it has not lost hope and confidence. Musk showed an unusually low-key and cautious attitude in the earnings call, no longer making big promises and talking big as before. This may be because he realized the bottleneck period that Tesla is currently in, or it may be because he wants to focus more on solving practical problems rather than creating gimmicks. In any case, Tesla needs to find new growth points in the future, especially in the Chinese market, where it needs to launch more models that meet consumer needs and preferences to enhance its competitiveness and market share.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.