Elon Musk Says Tesla, SpaceX Under 'Significant' Inflationary Pressure For Raw Materials, Logistics

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday both his electric vehicle firm and SpaceX are seeing significant inflationary pressure for raw materials and logistics.

What Happened: The billionaire entrepreneur shared his thoughts in a post related to the inflation rate over the next few years on Twitter. 

 

Tesla & SpaceX are seeing significant recent inflation pressure in raw materials & logistics — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022

In a separate post, Musk said Tesla was not alone, sharing a media report that said commodity prices had spiked to the highest level since 2008 over Russia supply fears.

See Also: Tesla Rushes To Hike Prices Of Some Model 3, Model Y Cars In US Amid Surging Nickel Prices

Inflation took a turn for the worse in February as U.S. consumer prices grew 7.9%, the largest 12-month increase since January 1982, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

This data is from before the commodity rally driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, suggesting more pain could be in the offing.

Why It Matters: Tesla last week rushed to bump up the prices of its models in the U.S. and China. This is the first such price hike the current global EV leader has taken this year after a spate of increases in 2021 due to chip shortages and supply chain snarls.

The Austin, Texas-based company is among the first automakers to raise prices amid a backdrop of skyrocketing prices of nickel and other key materials that are used in EV batteries.

Nickel prices zoomed to record highs last week amid a supply squeeze caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

U.S. oil prices also hit the highest level since 2008 on Thursday. 

Price Action: Tesla stock closed 5.12% lower at $795.35 a share on Friday.

Photo by Daniel Oberhaus on Wikimedia