A Tesla Inc. Sort 3 vehicle set to be delivered to a company employee moves off an assembly line during a ceremony at the company’s Gigafactory in Shanghai, China, on Monday, Dec. 30, 2019.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Forms
Tesla shares tumbled on Monday amid a broader market sell-off driven by investors’ coronavirus concerns. The COVID-19 outbreak in China could turn into a pandemic, with infections on the rise in Iran, Italy and South Korea.
Tesla, which recently established manufacturing operations in Shanghai, saw its shares close down 7.5%, ending the day at $833.79. Tesla also relies on innumerable Chinese suppliers to make its electric cars, and is hoping to sell more cars to Chinese consumers.
By way of comparison, the S&P 500 missing 3.35%, and most large-cap tech stocks with limited exposure to China dropped around 4%.
As the outbreak be revealed, Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn said on a 2019 fourth-quarter earnings call that the coronavirus outbreak would only justification the business a week-and-a-half production delay in China.
By Feburary 13, 2020, the company changed its tone and said in an annual pecuniary filing that the coronavirus outbreak may have a material adverse impact on its business.
Tesla Investors have also been responsible about the final results of an Autopilot-related crash investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB plans to give that report on Tuesday afternoon in Washington D.C. (It originally planned to reveal its findings in the morning, but postponed the report.)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk generally claims that Autopilot saves lives. However, the safety of this automated driver assistance system, which is criterion in newer Tesla vehicles, is still being evaluated by third party researchers.
The NTSB previously recommended that all automakers with automated driver support systems on the market — including Tesla Autopilot, Cadillac Super Cruise, Nissan ProPilot or Volvo Pilot Assist– achieve changes to keep drivers attentive while using them, and to prevent abuse or mis-use of the technology.
Tesla drivers time again boast online about using Autopilot features such as Autosteer to drive without touching the steering to what place, and others fall asleep behind the wheel. They do this, even though the fine print of Tesla’s carrier owners manual cautions drivers: “Autosteer is a BETA feature,” and “Warning: Autosteer is a hands-on feature. You must retain your hands on the steering wheel at all times.”
Tesla’s own marketing videos previously depicted drivers with their submits off the wheel.