LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Prowl reporter Holden Wilson gives a take on the future of the most popular car company in America

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Since Toyota launched the first production Hybrid car in 1997 (in Japan), the business for hybrid cars has been growing. While the hybrid car industry is growing there are some ‘overachievers’ out there who have gotten into the industry of fully electric cars.

Probably the most successful and well known ‘overachieving’ company would be Tesla. While Tesla has had some major success in the auto industry, this may not be the case for much longer. According to CNN Tesla stocks dropped by 8 percent after CEO Elon Musk announced that they would be cutting 7 percent of their full-time staff.

This may seem like a pretty big hit for Tesla. Especially after Elon Musk’s announcement that the company was going private, which ended up being a false statement that cost Tesla and Elon musk quite a large sum of money.

Going back to the 7 percent cut of staff, this wasn’t even the first time they cut more than 5 percent of their employees. Back in June of 2018 Tesla cut a total of 9 percent, but at the time their stock went up 40 percent, instead of dropping by 7 percent.

However, I think Tesla will pull through these tough times. They are laying off employees because they can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if they are going to be successful they need to make these tough decisions. Looking at the two specific, and rather large, sacrifices they have made, I believe they will ultimately be successful.

As someone who thoroughly appreciates fast and cool cars, I am excited by what Tesla is doing. However, there is no better sound than the roar of an internal combustion engine. I know many people love traditional cars, especially when it comes to race cars.

The largest obstacle that Tesla has to overcome is convincing people a fast electric car can be just as cool as a Camaro or even a Lamborghini. The way they are going to do this, I have no idea; they probably need to advertise too much younger people.

Another major change that Tesla needs to make is having more affordable vehicles as well as a broader range of advertising. If they can’t do that, then they aren’t going to make it much longer. With the latest layoffs there is a bit of hope and, with the proper management, Tesla has a shot at being extremely profitable in the years to come.