Tesla's Musk Responds To Wave Of New Electric Vehicle Manufacturers: 'Prototype Easy, Production Hard'

Tesla, Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk invariably makes a stir with his tweets, which more often than not are cryptic.

Musk offered a direct response Monday to an observation by a Twitter user about competition heating up in electric vehicle manufacturing.

What Happened: The Twitter user referred to several tech companies making a beeline for EV manufacturing, and Musk's response was plain and logical: 

Prototypes are easy, production is hard

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 3, 2021

Why It's Important: Most analysts suggest the market for EVs is likely to grow exponentially as EV penetration increases from its current single-digit percentage.

Related Link: Where Are Tesla's Profits Coming From? (Hint: It's Not Cars)

With EV manufacturing now driven by technology that is involved in batteries and accompanying charging infrastructure and autonomous driver assistance systems, several tech companies have also announced plans to enter the market.

Tech giant Apple, Inc. AAPL has long been speculated to make an announcement in this regard, and there were even rumors of partnerships with contract manufacturers and traditional automakers.

Cupertino hasn't said anything concrete about the matter.

Smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi Corporation XIACF confirmed its plan to enter the foray, and so did Huawei, Chinese search engine Baidu, Inc. BIDU and Japanese electronics giant Sony Group Corporation SONY.

Benzinga's Take: As Musk mentioned, scaling up manufacturing is a whole other ball game, especially for those companies with little experience in car manufacturing. The most prudent strategy is to tie up automakers in taking their plan forward, and go solo when they have adequate infrastructure and expertise in place. Related Link: Tesla Chooses Mumbai For First Office, Showroom In India: Report

Photo courtesy of Tesla.