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Bob Lutz, a renowned "car czar" and the blunt-talking former vice chairman of General Motors (GM), has never really been one to soft pedal his opinions, no matter how controversial or curmudgeonly they may seem.
In fact, the former Marine once called climate change "a total crock" and said rival Toyota's (7203.TO) push into hybrids was nothing more than a PR stunt and made "no economic sense."
He has taken aim at Tesla (TSLA) in recent years, saying back in 2017 that the car company would "never get to 2019." This week, with CEO Elon Musk's troubles mounting Lutz is feeling pretty good about his bearish position:
"It's an automobile company that is headed for the graveyard... The jaws are tightening, and I think in another year or two we'll see a movie called'Who Killed Tesla,' a conspiracy movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio."
That's Lutz making a crack about "Who Killed the Electric Car," a 2006 documentary that nailed GM as the leading bad guy in stalling the electric-car market.
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In an interview on CNBC, Lutz said Musk is a nice guy, but he doesn't know how to run a car company.
"They will never make money on the Model 3 because the cost is way too high. He's got 9,000 people in that assembly plant producing less than 150,000 cars a year. The whole thing just doesn't compute," he continued. "Tesla has no... tech advantage, no software advantage, no battery advantage. No advantages whatsoever."
Lutz pointed to Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Porsche as all viable competitors in the space that can sell their cars at a loss and make up for it with their other models if need be. Meanwhile, Tesla just keeps "hemorrhaging cash."
Tesla stock closed Wednesday up 4.93%, or $14.06, to $299.02. Tesla took a hit in Tuesday's session after a report said the company was under criminal investigation for Musk's infamous going-private tweet.
This article originally appeared on MarketWatch.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
