Tesla late Monday launched a new, slightly larger, six-seat Model Y L in China, with a starting price of around $47,180. However, CEO Elon Musk early Wednesday said the new vehicle would only come to the U.S. at the earliest by late 2026 and warned the new vehicle may "never" come. TSLA shares fell during Wednesday's stock market and continued to decline Thursday.
The new Tesla Model Y L in China has been expected for some time, with the larger wheelbase confirmed last month in a China regulatory filing. The move to tweak its offerings comes as Tesla's China local sales have fallen in 2025, even with the refreshed Model Y released earlier this year.
However, this did not stop retail investor excitement on Tuesday over the vehicle release. Musk poured some cold water on the excitement when he took to X early Wednesday.
"This variant of the Model Y doesn't start production in the U.S. until the end of next year," Musk wrote. "Might not ever, given the advent of self-driving in America."
Musk's comments are the latest sign that Tesla remains all-in on autonomous driving and its full self-driving, or FSD, technology, instead of targeting new vehicles to add to its aging lineup.
Separately, Musk on X continued to tout the EV giant's autonomous driving efforts, saying that version 14 "feels alive."
Robotaxi Tail Winds
Tesla also appears to be planning to make its "robotaxi" ride-hailing service "open access" in September, according to Musk.
The Tesla head last week said on X that the robotaxi service will be "open access next month." This would mean that prospective consumers would not need a special invite in order to use the limited ride-hailing service. However, Musk or Tesla have not made it clear if the ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, or the one in San Francisco Bay area would be "open access."
Tesla officially expanded its ride-hailing service to the Bay Area, with safety drivers, about three weeks ago. A relatively small number of Tesla vehicles are operating in the Bay Area and in Austin, Texas. The service is open to influencers and other invitees, not the general public.
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Texas regulators recently officially listed Tesla Robotaxi LLC as a licensed entity, granting the EV giant a rideshare license. The regulatory decision means Tesla will be able to operate its limited ride-hailing service under Texas' new guidelines governing autonomous vehicles operating in the state.
Tesla Stock Trend
TSLA shares dropped as low as 314.60 intraday before paring those losses, ending Wednesday's stock market down 1.6% to 323.90. Shares reversed below the 200-day moving average but closed above the 50-day line on Wednesday.
TSLA continued to slide early Thursday, dropping about 1.2% to 320.11.
Tesla now has a handle, offering a 348.98 buy point. The current base is within a much-larger consolidation.
The relative strength line has lagged since late May and the end of last year, reflecting lagging Tesla performance vs. the S&P 500.
Tesla earnings are also on track for a third straight annual decline. Over the weekend, Tesla slashed lease payments in the U.K. by 40% as demand tumbles in that market.
In late July, TSLA undercut its 50-day and 200-day moving averages as Musk warned of a "few rough quarters" ahead in the Q2 conference call.
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As of Wednesday's stock market close, Tesla stock was up around 34% since the April 22 Q1 conference call, lifted by robotaxi bets. Shares are down about 21% for the year, and 34% below their all-time high of 488.54.
Tesla stock has a 21-day average true range of 3.96%. The ATR metric, available on IBD's MarketSurge charting tool, gauges the characteristic breadth of a stock's behavior. Stocks that tend to make large jumps or dives in daily stock market action, the kind that can trigger sell rules and shake investors out of a stock, have a high ATR. Stocks that tend to make more incremental moves have lower ATRs.
Investors can keep tabs on the IBD Leaderboard watchlist, the IBD 50 list of top growth stocks and IBD SwingTrader along with the IBD Sector Leaders list.
Tesla stock has a 54 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. The stock also has a 58 Relative Strength Rating and a 54 EPS Rating.
Please follow Kit Norton on X @KitNorton for more coverage.
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