[BODY]
※ Subscribing to "Kim Ki-hyuk's Tesla World" makes it easy to grasp the future of the electric vehicle, robotics, AI, autonomous driving, and energy industries being driven by Tesla and Elon Musk. We also personally decode fresh news that is hard to find in foreign and domestic media. Please subscribe.
Earnings Call Highlights "Full-Scale Robotaxi Operations"
Tesla announced in its first-quarter earnings release on Oct. 22 (local time) that its GAAP operating income for Q1 came in at $900 million (approximately 1.3352 trillion won).
In materials distributed to shareholders that day, Tesla outlined its future direction. One notable sentence read: "With a steady auto business, the advancement of FSD 4, full-scale robotaxi operations, and Optimus approaching mass production, we are excited about where Tesla will stand this year."
Tesla officially confirmed that it plans to begin mass production of its robotaxi model "Cybercab" and its large electric truck "Tesla Semi" within this year. The Cybercab is a vehicle designed from the ground up for full autonomous driving. Tesla is now focused on building hardware architecture optimized for robotaxi service, going beyond simply upgrading the software of existing vehicles.
Robotaxi Service Expands to Dallas and Houston After Austin
This signals that Tesla's business structure is shifting from selling privately owned vehicles to providing services. In fact, paid robotaxi miles during the first quarter nearly doubled from the previous quarter, raising expectations for profitability. Following an expansion of its Austin service area, Tesla has launched services in Dallas and Houston this month, rapidly expanding its footprint across the United States. Bank of America (BofA) emphasized that "the addition of these cities to Tesla's robotaxi network marks fresh progress toward the autonomous driving goal."
According to local U.S. media, Tesla is accelerating Cybercab production. Teslarati reported on the 8th (local time) that about 60 Cybercabs were spotted in the shipping yard of the Texas Gigafactory. The vehicles were parked in two rows. Interestingly, the vehicles captured differed from the initially unveiled concept. The early model featured a fully autonomous structure with no pedals or steering wheel, but the vehicles observed this time were equipped with white seats and a steering wheel.
Along with the robotaxi, Tesla's FSD business is also gaining momentum. According to the earnings release, active FSD subscribers surpassed 1.28 million as of Q1, up 51% from a year earlier. Analysts say the rise in subscribers indicates that Tesla's new strategy of converting FSD into a subscription-only model is paying off.
Responses from overseas authorities are also turning favorable. In particular, the Netherlands' approval of FSD in April is expected to serve as a pivotal moment that could spread across the entire European market. Procedures to gain approval in China are also underway, and the outcome is drawing attention.
Some forecast that Tesla's improved autonomous driving service and the arrival of new autonomous-driving-dedicated hardware in the form of the Cybercab could be a variable that reverses the trajectory of Tesla's sluggish share price. Kim Chang-ho, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, predicted that "the Cybercab will become the model that accounts for the largest share of Tesla's entire vehicle lineup going forward."
Tesla Making Its Own Chips? Three Reasons Experts Are Skeptical ㅣ Musk's Terafab