Financial Network reported on February 12 (Editor: Liu Rui) that $BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$ After unleashing a significant move in Self-Driving Cars on Monday, $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ the competition faced in the Self-Driving Cars sector has intensified, resulting in a heavy blow to its stock price.

Investors are worried that with Tesla CEO Elon Musk preoccupied with U.S. political affairs and attempting to acquire OpenAI, he may have little energy left to address the challenges Tesla is facing.

Tesla faces multiple competitors in the smart driving field.

On Monday (the 10th), BYD’s Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu stated at the BYD smart strategy launch that the company plans to collaborate with DeepSeek to develop autonomous driving technology, and all models will be equipped with the "God Eye" advanced smart driving system, opening the "Q&M Dental Smart Driving Era."

This latest development further intensifies concerns about Tesla lagging in the smart driving sector. Tesla has yet to launch its driver-assist products in China, the world’s largest auto market, while BYD has now fully adopted smart driving systems, making the domestic smart driving field more "competitive," with product profitability likely falling short of previous expectations.

After falling for four consecutive days, Tesla's stock price closed down 6.34% on Tuesday Eastern Time, with a drop of over 7% at one point during the closing period. Over the past five days, Tesla's stock has cumulatively fallen nearly 17%, indicating that its Market Cap has evaporated by more than 200 billion USD.

Currently, Tesla seems to no longer have a leading advantage in the smart driving market.

During Tesla's earnings call last month, Musk stated that the company's goal is to launch "unsupervised full self-driving (FSD)" and self-driving ride-hailing services in Austin, Texas, by June of this year.

However, for comparison, $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ Waymo, under its umbrella, has already been operating robot taxi services in parts of Austin, San Francisco, and Phoenix in the USA. Just on Tuesday, Waymo stated that its robot taxi service coverage in Los Angeles has expanded by another 10 square miles.

"From our perspective, the competition between Waymo, Tesla, and numerous Chinese manufacturers is a key driving force on the path to commercialization of 'self-driving taxis (Robotaxi),'" an Analyst at Morgan Stanley wrote in a report following BYD's announcement of the latest smart driving news.

Analysts at Oppenheimer wrote in a report on Tuesday that "the competition in self-driving cars may limit Tesla's profitability."

They believe that even if Tesla meets its timeline of launching self-driving cars in Texas by June 2025, the company will still be "one of several autonomous technology providers, meaning it will face competition in terms of price and performance."

Musk is probably "too busy."

For Tesla's investors, another concern they have is that Musk is indeed too busy.

In addition to operating Tesla, Musk is also the CEO of SpaceX, owns the Social Media company X, and is in charge of the AI startup xAI. These days, he has also spent a significant amount of time and energy in the USA's political circles: as the administrator of the newly formed "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), he is pushing for cuts to federal spending, personnel, regulations, and even entire agencies.

On Monday, there were reports that Musk is leading an investment consortium attempting to acquire OpenAI for $97.4 billion. This has caused more concern among Tesla investors that Musk may not have the time and energy to focus on Tesla's development.

Oppenheimer's Analyst wrote: "Although Tesla has shifted its focus to physical AI, we believe that Elon Musk's acquisition of OpenAI distracts from addressing the challenges facing Tesla."

Oppenheimer's Analyst also emphasized that Musk's close political ties with Trump pose additional risks for Tesla.

They wrote that although Musk's behavior "has fans in certain circles," his public life "may alienate consumers and employees as the Trump administration tests the limits of its power." They cited recent vehicle registration data as evidence. The data shows that the number of Tesla purchases in recent times has significantly decreased year-on-year in California and several European markets.

Editor/Rocky