Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said late Tuesday he foresees “a year of difficulty” for the global economy, with “lots of companies” going bankrupt, and said that the EV maker will not be immune to the downdraft.
“It’s is going to be a challenging 12 months, and Tesla is not immune to the global economic environment,” Musk said at the Tesla
TSLA,
shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, where he spoke at length and a wide range of topics.
The macroeconomic environment will be “difficult for at least the next 12 months,” Musk said. A turnaround, however, would come in the following 12 months, and long-term investors in Tesla will do “extremely well,” he said.
Musk also surprised the audience by saying that Tesla, which famously has eschewed traditional advertising, will now do so.
“We will try advertising and see how it goes,” he said.
Musk also teased two new products to be unveiled in the future. The CEO promised more details at a yet-to-be-detailed launch event, but said that the products would be “head and shoulders above anything else” currently in the market.
The CEO’s opening remarks were largely upbeat, with Musk focusing on autonomous driving and Tesla’s plans for alternative energy, and also confirming the Cybertruck, Tesla’s electric pickup truck which has been delayed a couple of times, is on track for this year.
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Earlier, a preliminary tally indicated that shareholders voted yes on the proposals endorsed by the company, including approving the nomination of former Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel to the board.
Some shareholders had questioned Straubel’s nomination, saying that Tesla’s board already had too many ties with Musk.
A failed proposal, which had been introduced in previous years and called for a third-party audit into Tesla’s cobalt supply chain to prevent child and forced labor, ended up being embraced by Musk. “You know what, we will do a third-party audit,” although Tesla products don’t use that much cobalt, Musk said.
Tesla shares had edged higher in the extended session Tuesday after ending the regular trading day up 0.1%, but after the remarks about a difficult economy the shares veered between gains and losses.
