Shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) are down 6% after the company’s highly anticipated Robotaxi event failed to impress analysts and investors.
Now called a “Cybercab,” Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk unveiled a self-driving concept car that landed with a thud among people who watched the launch event.
The Cybercab concept vehicle that was shown off was a low, silver coloured two-seater with no steering wheel or pedals. Tesla said the car will be fully autonomous when it launches in 2027.
Musk also said that consumers will be able to buy a Tesla Cybercab for less than $30,000 U.S.
The Tesla CEO also promised to have full self-driving functionality in the company’s Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles in Texas and California next year.
Analysts up and down Wall Street quickly issued commentary critical of the Cybercab launch.
Barclays (BCS) said that the event failed to highlight any near-term opportunities for Tesla that will help boost the company’s sales and financial results.
Piper Sandler (PIPR) said that “Most trading-oriented firms will be underwhelmed by the Robotaxi unveiling” and added that it expects the stock to selloff in coming weeks.
Morgan Stanley (MS) said that Elon Musk failed to make the case that Tesla is an artificial intelligence (A.I.) company during the event.
The Robotaxi event “overall disappointed expectations on a number of areas: a lack of data regarding rate-of-change on FSD/tech, ride-share economics and go-to-market strategy,” said Morgan Stanley in a note to clients.
Elon Musk has staked Tesla’s future largely on his vision of self-driving vehicles. However, it is unclear when the technology, or regulators, will allow widespread use of autonomous vehicles.
Prior to today (Oct. 11), Tesla’s stock had declined nearly 10% over the last 12 months to trade at $238.77 U.S. per share.