Musk Lectures Legacy Brands On Cars, Even As Tesla Drifts Beyond Them

  • Musk says legacy automakers resist electrification efforts.
  • He argues EVs are simpler, cleaner, more efficient by design.
  • CEO warns traditional brands risk extinction if they stall.

There’s no denying it. For all Elon Musk’s foibles, he and Tesla have played an instrumental role in accelerating the car industry’s shift towards electrification and autonomy. Love him or loathe him, the trajectory has shifted on his watch. Now, the controversial CEO says any legacy automaker that refuses to follow Tesla’s lead risks going the way of the dinosaurs.

Last week, the world’s richest man sat down with André Thierig, head of Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin, for a deep dive into where Tesla is heading and where the wider industry should be going. In Musk’s telling, it has been obvious for more than 20 years that the endgame is fully electric, fully autonomous transport. The surprise, at least to him, is that some rivals still appear reluctant to accept it.

Read: Nearly Half Of Jury Pool Dismissed As Musk’s Lawyer Claims So Many ‘Hate Him’

“The automotive industry has strongly rejected electrification,” Musk said during the interview. “They’ve dragged their feet, and they’ve had to be pushed there by the government, and whenever they have any opportunity to reduce the production of electric vehicles, they’ve done so. This is not a good strategic…like it doesn’t make sense.”

He went on to argue that the need for the car industry to shift to electrification would be true even “without environmental concerns.” Musk believes that “an electric vehicle is a fundamentally better architecture than a gasoline or combustion vehicle. It is much simpler, it is more efficient, it’s quieter, there’s no pollution in cities, so really all ground transport should be electric.”

“The future does not contain combustion vehicles, and there will be very few vehicles that are not autonomous. If the automotive industry does not move in that direction, they will be left out,” Musk added.

Carmakers Aren’t Doing Enough, Musk Says

When Thierig asked whether Tesla could learn anything from legacy automakers, or whether it should simply keep its head down and focus on its own path, Musk conceded, “You can always learn something from some competitors.” Still, he quickly returned to familiar territory. “Strategically, they’re heading in the direction of the dinosaurs, so they’re not heading in a good place. Dinosaurs are not around anymore.”

As for the risk of traditional brands copying Tesla’s ideas, he dismissed it, arguing that you cannot simply force a good idea onto companies that are not ready to embrace it.

None of this is especially new. Musk has long criticized established carmakers for moving too slowly, and with Tesla’s business tied so closely to EVs and autonomous driving systems, he has every reason to underline the advantages of both. It also does not hurt when that message reinforces confidence in Tesla’s long-term prospects.

Perhaps more intriguing is Tesla’s evolving self-image. The company no longer presents itself purely as an EV manufacturer, and some observers believe it may not even be building cars in a decade, shifting instead toward robotics.

Musk Lectures Legacy Brands On Cars, Even As Tesla Drifts Beyond Them

The Auto World

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