Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on Tuesday warned that the electric vehicle maker was not immune to global economic headwinds, with a difficult road ahead over the next 12 months.
At the company's annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, Mr Musk spoke about car demand, beating out competitors in a slow economy and his decision to conduct a third-party audit of cobalt mines that supply Tesla with a key ingredient to make batteries.
In a sign of tough times for Tesla, the market leader in electric cars, Mr Musk said the company would try to advertise its vehicles, something it has never done before.
“Tesla is not immune to the global economic environment. I expect things to be just at a macroeconomic level difficult for at least the next 12 months,” he said.
At the meeting, shareholders voted to appoint the company's co-founder and former chief technology officer, JB Straubel, to the board.
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis had urged investors to vote against Mr Straubel's appointment, citing worries about his independence.
Mr Straubel is reportedly seen as a successor to Mr Musk but shareholders also rejected a proposal to publish a report that sought to establish succession plans.
The Tesla chief has been under pressure to address investor concerns about the lack of a clear successor, softening demand and delays of some new models, as well as his involvement in social media platform Twitter, which he bought in October.
“There was a short-term distraction because I had to do major open-heart surgery on Twitter to ensure the company's survival,” Mr Musk said on Tuesday.
Last week he announced that NBCUniversal's former advertising head, Linda Yaccarino, would succeed him as Twitter's chief executive and that he will focus on products and technology at the company.
In April, Mr Musk had said Tesla would prioritise sales growth over profit after it missed its margin target due to aggressive price cuts.
Mr Musk sent an email to staff on Monday in which he said the company could make no new hires unless he personally approves them, including contractors, and asked executives to “think carefully” before submitting hiring requests.
Tesla shareholders on Tuesday swiftly voted with the board's recommendations on nearly all proposals. The meeting was attended by shareholders who won invitations via lottery and was also live-streamed.
Tesla shares closed flat at $166.52 on Tuesday and rose 0.6 per cent in after-hours trading.
The stock has dropped about 60 per cent from its record high in November 2021, hurt by Mr Musk's distraction with Twitter and worries about softening demand for electric cars.
Reuters contributed to this report
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Age 26
Born May 17, 1991
Height 1.80 metres
Birthplace Sydney, Australia
Residence Eastbourne, England
Plays Right-handed
WTA titles 3
Prize money US$5,761,870 (Dh21,162,343.75)
Wins / losses 312 / 181
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Brief scores:
Manchester United 4
Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'
Fulham 1
Kamara 67' (pen),
Red card: Anguissa (68')
Man of the match: Juan Mata (Man Utd)
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West Indies v India - Third ODI
India 251-4 (50 overs)
Dhoni (78*), Rahane (72), Jadhav (40)
Cummins (2-56), Bishoo (1-38)
West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
Mohammed (40), Powell (30), Hope (24)
Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)
India won by 93 runs
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ROUTE%20TO%20TITLE
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The five pillars of Islam
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5.
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What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Kareem Shaheen on Canada
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
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Asia Cup Qualifier
Venue: Kuala Lumpur
Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September
Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6: Final
Asia Cup
Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Schedule: Sep 15-28
Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier
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Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Tomorrow 2021
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
Plastic tipping points
Tomorrow 2021
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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Schedule:
Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles
