Ex-Stellantis CEO Sees Tesla Exiting EV Market

Car executives once viewed Tesla as the auto industry’s biggest disruptor. But now, at least one former automotive CEO says the company may eventually pull out of the car business — and could even cease to exist within 10 years, Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez reported for Fortune.

Tavares went on to say that BYD is "eating Tesla's lunch" with more efficient and cost-effective vehicles. (Photo: Tesla X)

Carlos Tavares, who resigned from his position as CEO of Jeep manufacturer Stellantis late last year, said Elon Musk’s Tesla is being battered by Chinese rival BYD, which surpassed Tesla in global EV sales earlier this year.

Because of this growing pressure — and with multiple ventures already demanding Musk’s attention — it’s possible the Tesla CEO may eventually focus elsewhere, Tavares said.

“We can’t rule out that at some point, he’ll decide to leave the automotive industry to refocus on humanoid robots, SpaceX, or artificial intelligence,” Tavares told French newspaper Les Echos in an interview.

“Elon Musk will have left the automotive industry.”

Tavares went on to say that BYD is "eating Tesla's lunch" with more efficient and cost-effective vehicles. “Tesla’s stock market value loss will be colossal because this valuation is simply stratospheric,” he said.

“I’m not sure that Tesla will still exist in 10 years. It’s an innovative group, but they’ll be beaten by BYD’s efficiency.”

Tesla surpassed Wall Street expectations Wednesday with revenue of $28 billion, up 12% year over year, and a 33% increase in deliveries in China, its second-biggest market.

But over the past five years, Tesla’s market share in China has fallen to about 5%, down from 16% in 2020, partly due to competition from BYD.