Tesla held its annual shareholder meeting in Texas, USA, on May 16. CEO Elon Musk said the company is designing two new vehicle models. He also warned that Tesla will likely see challenges brought by the global economic environment in the coming months.
Tesla is expected to start the first deliveries of Cybertruck pickups later this year. Musk also said on Tuesday that the company aims to finish the engineering and design of the revamped Roadster sports car in 2023 and begin production in 2024.
The CEO told the shareholders that Tesla is building two new vehicle models but did not offer details. He said the company will likely make over five million units of the two models combined annually. Executives have said Tesla plans to launch a model with a product cost of half of a Model 3.
Musk also mentioned the economic situation. According to The Wall Street Journal, he said things are expected to be difficult at a macro-economic level for at least the next 12 months, adding that Tesla is not immune to the global economic environment.
The EV company has adjusted its vehicles' prices a few times in several markets since last year, creating a price war, especially in China. Musk said in April that Tesla will prioritize sales growth over profit to expand market share.
He also said on Tuesday that Tesla would start trying a little advertising and see how it goes, something the company has never done.
Tesla shareholders voted to appoint JB Straubel, CEO of Redwood Materials, to the board. Straubel is Tesla's co-founder and previous chief technology officer. In addition, shareholders rejected publishing a "Key-Person Risk" report that will identify critical persons in the company and make succession plans.
Musk has been criticized for not spending enough time on Tesla, especially after purchasing Twitter in October 2022. He announced a few days ago the appointment of a new Twitter CEO but will keep focusing on the social media company's products and technology.
Musk acknowledged at the shareholder meeting that there was a "short-term distraction" because he had to do major open-heart surgery on Twitter to ensure the company's survival.
In a CNBC interview later on Tuesday, Musk said Tesla has seen some constraints on its ability to expand in China, where it produces more than half of its vehicles. While the CEO did not specify the constraints, he said the issue has nothing to do with demand.
According to Reuters, Tesla has applied to expand its factory in Shanghai and add a trial production line for pouch battery cells, a technology it has yet to adopt. An undated public notice showed the company seeks to increase production capacity from 1.25 million to 1.75 million powertrain units.
The notice also said a trial line can initially produce 20,000 amp-hours of pouch cells, the same power that a Model Y battery pack holds, according to Reuters. However, how Tesla will use the battery technology remains unclear.
