Outspoken former General Motors executive Bob Lutz has lashed out at Tesla, saying fans of the all-electric brand are “like members of a religious cult”.
Lutz, who made the comments on CNBC’s morning show, went on to compare South African-born Tesla CEO Elon Musk to the late Steve Jobs.
“Tesla supporters are like members of a religious cult. Just like Steve Jobs was worshiped at Apple, it’s the same way with Elon Musk, who is seen as a new visionary god who promises this phantasmagorical future, a utopia of profitability and volume,” said Lutz.
“The only problem is, Steve Jobs delivered and Elon, God bless him, hasn’t delivered a thing, except increasingly negative cash flow, and an increasing lack of profitability … more and more capital spending,” he added.
Lutz predicted that Tesla would not be able to survive, even with apparent high demand for the upcoming Model 3.
“I just don’t see anything about Tesla that gives me any confidence that that business can survive. The last time I checked, their quarterly cash burn is about $250-million – for a company that size, that’s horrific.”
“If you’re in a variable loss – that is, you’re not recovering labour and materials in your sale price – then doing twice as many, or three times as many, or four times as many [sales] doesn’t help. The losses just get bigger and bigger.”
Interestingly, Tesla this week reported its first quarterly net profit in more than three years, with Musk saying the automaker could well turn a profit again in the fourth quarter.
In reply to Lutz, Musk tweeted the following…
Dear cult members, I love you https://t.co/1OzRaSQzhT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2016
