Tesla (TSLA) stock may have surged yesterday, but that doesn’t mean it’s all good news for Elon Musk. On the contrary, negative headlines are still piling up as the company falters.
Once known as the undisputed leader of the electric vehicle (EV) sector, Tesla has struggled since the year started, largely thanks to Elon Musk’s polarizing actions. Even after the CEO announced he would be stepping back from his role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), share prices haven’t garnered any sustainable momentum.
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Recently, Tesla revealed that its sales in China are down more than 8% on a year-over-year (YOY) basis while demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continues to rise. This indicates that the company’s share of an important market is slipping at a highly vital time.
Now Tesla has more bad news from the U.S., as a new rival celebrates a major milestone.
Less than two weeks ago, news broke that Tesla had an unexpected new rival, a startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Slate Automotive had been quietly pioneering low-cost electric pickup trucks for years, but has finally entered the market with a splash.
Related: Tesla faces big threat from rivals in key market
The company produces customizable electric pickup trucks with the traditional design at a sticker price of only $25,000. This low price decreases even more with the federal EV tax credit.
So far, demand for these vehicles is extremely high. Slate just reported that over the weekend of May 10, it exceeded 100,000 reservations. These figures haven’t led to sales yet, but they show that many people are very interested in owning a Slate Automotive electric truck before the vehicle has been released.
At first glance, this might seem like worse news for Rivian than Tesla. After all, the trendy startup also produces electric pickup trucks with a traditional design.
But as TechCrunch has reported, Slate’s trendy model is a perfect contrast to Tesla’s Cybertruck, since it is “affordable, deeply customizable, and very analog,” and doesn’t even come with an infotainment screen.
This comes at a time when Tesla is facing a significant Cybertruck demand problem. As TheStreet has reported, photos have shown hundreds of Tesla’s futuristic trucks sitting idly at its Texas gigafactory facility, as well as in random parking lots in other states.
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