Following the attempted assassination on the former US president, Tesla's CEO, Musk, quickly showed support for Trump after the incident, which confused many fans because Trump repeatedly emphasized canceling subsidies for electric vehicles. After announcing its latest financial report this week, Musk said that any action taken by Trump against electric vehicles would cause greater harm to competitors rather than Tesla.
Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, said on Tuesday that US presidential candidate Donald Trump may withdraw the support for electric cars, which would cause more harm to other automakers than to the Texas-based company.
"This would be destructive to our competition, slightly negative for Tesla, but probably helpful on a macro scale. It's my guess," Musk said during a conference call after the electric car maker reported its lowest profit margins in five years.
The Republican candidate supported by Musk and former President Trump, has been critical of Biden's electric vehicle policy and said he would "end electric vehicle forcing policy" if elected. Trump has yet to explain the plan in detail.
Musk said that any move by Trump to cancel subsidies and its impact on Tesla car sales is not key, as Tesla is an AI company focusing on autonomous driving technology.
The value of Tesla is mainly in autonomous driving. Compared with that, other things are insignificant," Musk said.
The billionaire announced his support for Trump shortly after the assassination attempt on the presidential candidate this month. Musk denied media reports that he committed to donate $45 million to Trump each month, but he said he has formed a political action committee.
Musk's support for Trump has puzzled some Tesla fans who questioned how his election would benefit the electric vehicle company.
Trump's vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, proposed a bill last year to cancel subsidies for electric vehicles and replace them with a credit policy that promotes fuel cars, although there is little chance of passing it in the current Congress.
Musk said in a post on X platform last week, "Cancel subsidies. This will only benefit Tesla. Also, cancel all industry subsidies!"
During his speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week, Trump said his government will impose tariffs of 100% to 200% on vehicles made in Mexico, making them "impossible to sell" in the United States.
Musk said on Tuesday that the electric car maker has suspended plans for a factory in Mexico and will re-evaluate investment in a new super factory in the country after the US presidential election.
"Trump said he will impose heavy taxes on cars produced in Mexico, so investing in Mexico makes no sense," he said.
Musk said Tesla is dramatically increasing the production capacity of existing factories and plans to produce robot taxis in its Texas factory.