When Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly denied a report that Tesla had canceled its work on the $25,000 “Model 2” despite the project ending weeks prior, Tesla executives were “alarmed” by Musk’s public lie, according to a new report by Reuters.
In April 2024, Reuters reported that the long-awaited $25,000 Tesla, nicknamed “Model 2” by the public, had been canceled.
Immediately after the report, Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded, stating “Reuters is lying (again).”
However, when he made this statement, Musk knew that the report was correct, and that he had cancelled the project weeks earlier.
This new information comes from a report by Reuters today, citing company documents and the standard “people familiar with the matter.”
The public denial caused confusion among Tesla executives, some of whom wondered if the project was back on, or who were concerned that customers may delay purchases waiting for a product that they and Musk knew would never come.
It also concerned executives due to an agreement Musk made with the SEC which required a lawyer to oversee his Tesla-related tweeting activities, after he had previously been caught misleading investors into thinking he had secured funding to take Tesla private.
Musk’s lie about the $25k Model 2 project stopped a decline in TSLA stock, which had slid by 6% so far that day, and the stock recovered partially by the end of the day. Given the market-moving nature of the statement, and the subject matter of being about Tesla’s future plans, it was thought that this would be another clear violation of Musk’s settlement with the SEC.
Musk’s history attacking truth
Musk has a long history of taking umbrage with the press and government regulators, and getting in public fights with people for the smallest of slights. These attacks are often immature, as in the examples of his lewd statements about the SEC, or an unnecessary attack on a diver during a rescue operation.
Reuters has been one of his main targets, but he has generally shown disdain for the media, and this attitude isn’t new.
In 2018, he floated the idea of creating a website to rank “truth” in media, proposing the name “Pravduh.” The idea came after a series of negative reports about Tesla, making it clear that the effort was less about truth, and more about Musk feeling slighted about recent coverage.
In a similar vein to his attacks on Reuters, he and the Tesla board recently denied a WSJ report that they were seeking a replacement for Musk as CEO. Musk responded personally, stating that it was an “EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS” for WSJ to publish a “DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial,” even though WSJ reached out to Tesla and was given no comment beforehand.
One of the reasons WSJ couldn’t get comment beforehand is because Tesla dissolved its PR department years ago. Companies keep PR departments so that press can have a clear a consistent idea of a company’s position on the matter, and so that journalists can reach out to the company for comment beforehand. Musk’s anger at WSJ for not including a denial from a department that he himself dissolved suggests that perhaps he relishes the opportunity to strike out against the media, as his own actions have been responsible for the lack of communication between Tesla and the media.
Top comment by Beario
At this point everyone knows his reputation except for people that choose to believe what he says. The sales numbers have been dismal in Europe, China, and here in the US but he speaks as though everything is okay and everyone is having issues. The numbers tell a different story but at the rate things are going we will have to see how long the truth evades him.
He even targeted us here at Electrek after we published a true and fair article critiquing Tesla’s plan to charge owners $1,500 for hardware they already bought. After our report, many other media reported the same story, and a few days later Tesla lowered the price to $1,000 (when it still should be zero, and at least one owner has prevailed in small claims due to our report).
Immediately after Tesla lowered the price of the upgrade, we found that Elon Musk had blocked our site’s account on Twitter, and also blocked my colleague Fred Lambert, who was not involved in reporting the story. We were also banned from future Tesla events due to our true and fair report.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here. – ad*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments