In an interview at the New York Times’ DealBook Conference Tuesday, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said there are no plans for a ‘Model S’ (the company’s high-end electric sports sedans) recall after three car fires prompted what he calls “extremely misleading” headlines.
“If you read the headlines, it sounds like Teslas have a greater propensity to catch fires than other cars. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth,” said Musk, noting that Tesla Model S is five times less likely to catch fire than average gasoline cars.
“We have never had a serious injury or death in any of our cars”, Musk added. “Maybe there is a car as safe as the Model S, but there is certainly not a car that is safer.”
Musk also said that in the case of the three fires, the owners of the cars have asked for Model S replacements as soon as possible.
Tesla shares ticked higher in after-hours trading after closing down nearly 5 percent Tuesday. As I write this, TSLA is up $4.20 in pre-market trading, at $142 per share. Ticker peaked Sept. 30 at $194.50 per share.
Despite the name’s recent pullback, shares of Tesla — which took a 30% nosedive following the first fire reported in early October — remain up more than 350% year-over-year, and 306% so far this year. In August 22, Musk implicitly noted in a CNBC interview that Tesla stock was overvalued and trading at a price that was higher than the company had “any right to deserve.”
On Tuesday, Musk said a high PPS is “distracting,” but added that the stock’s current value is “a pretty good deal right now.”
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