Tesla Won Some Brownie Points By Not Doing Anything Wrong Like GM, Volkswagen, Says Industry Watcher, Calls FSD Elon Musk's 'Passion Project'

Tesla, Inc. TSLA on Thursday gave an ambitious timeline for bringing its full self-driving technology to Asia and Europe, and an industry watcher weighed in on the announcement.

What Happened: The FSD could be a “difference maker” for Tesla in China, said Greg Migliore, editor-in-chief of Real Auto Blog in an interview with Yahoo Finance. He said he had tried multiple versions of the technology and found it has gotten better over the years.

Migliore said there is a learning curve for everyone involved. “There is also a learning curve, not just for customers but for regulators. So when things don't quite work as they often don't with FSD, you know the government and the regulatory bodies need to figure out how to govern that and you know enforce things,” he said.

While Tesla gave a timeline of the first quarter of 2025 for rolling out FSD in China and Europe, Migliore said there could be some delay as the company tries to cater FSD to each market.

Migliore suggested the FSD is sort of a “passion project” for Tesla CEO Elon. “It’s like an articulation of his strategy for the company and brings together AI with the automotive space,” he said.

See: How to Buy Tesla Stock

Tesla Defensive Auto Play: When asked whether Tesla is considered a defensive autoplay in the current tough market condition, Migliore made note of the strong gains the electric-vehicle maker’s shares recorded for the past two sessions, defying the broader market weakness. It appeared that the stock almost received credit for not doing anything weird like General Motors Corp. GM, and Volkswagen AG VWAGY, he said. While GM has delayed the start of production at the Indiana battery factory it is running jointly with Samsung SDI by a year, Volkswagen is eyeing the closure of two of its factories.

Migliore said, “Many consumers remain confident in just the idea of Tesla the brand, of Tesla. I think for many people they are the default EV maker, they're the first point of consideration when you're considering an EV,” he said.

“So, I think they almost just kind of got some like brownie points simply by not doing anything wrong.”

In premarket trading on Friday, Tesla fell 1.43% to $226.88, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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