Overview
- Carlos Tavares, who led Stellantis until late 2024, told Les Echos that Tesla could leave the car industry within a decade as Elon Musk potentially shifts focus to robotics, SpaceX or AI.
- Elon Musk publicly rejected the forecast on X, saying the former CEO “has absolutely no clue,” while Tesla shares pulled back modestly in recent trading, according to multiple reports.
- The warning follows Tesla’s Q3 disclosure of record 497,099 deliveries and $28.1 billion in revenue alongside margin compression, a 37% drop in GAAP net income, and roughly $400 million in tariff costs.
- Competition pressures continue as BYD has overtaken Tesla in global EV sales and Tesla’s China market share has fallen to about 5% from roughly 16% in 2020.
- A shareholder vote is set for November 6 on a 10‑year compensation package for Musk reported at about $1 trillion, which faces opposition from proxy advisers, and some coverage misattributed Tavares’s remarks to another former Stellantis chief.