Tesla Daily: Tesla News & Analysis · Rob Maurer

Auto Sales May Be Hiding Bigger Picture + FSD Beta v12, Cybertruck Promo (01.08.24)

·23 min·1 clip

Teslascope says 72% of employee feedback reported better human-like behavior and stability in FSD Beta v12.

Rob Mauer opens with Tesla's market move and the broader auto-data picture. Tesla starts the day up 1.25% while the Nasdaq is up 2.2%, so the stock lags the market even as the week starts on a firmer note after a tougher week last week. He then moves into 2023 U.S. auto sales estimates from Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book. Those numbers put Tesla at 4.2% market share, up 0.4 percentage points year over year. He notes that this is the third-largest increase in the group and the largest gain from any automaker of that size or smaller. The chart is there to give Tesla's move some context, not to isolate it as a single data point. The point is not just that Tesla gained share, but that it did so while the rest of the market shifted around it. He then turns to FSD Beta v12.1 and the early impressions from employees who already have access. One of the first details is that Tesla has done internal testing of Actually Smart Summon on the version 12 end-to-end architecture. That matters because it suggests a feature people have been waiting on is getting closer to customer vehicles. Mauer keeps the timeline in view instead of letting the feature talk run away with itself. He says the broader employee wave for version 12.1 arrived on December 27, earlier than the January 5 target that had been communicated. He contrasts that pace with the slower rollout of version 11, which marked the transition to FSD beta on highways. The earlier timing looks positive, but not like proof that the rollout is done or risk-free. He also cites employee feedback saying 72% saw improvements in human-like behavior and general stability compared with version 11, while noting that survey wording can shape how the result should be read. The show keeps a steady balance between progress and what the numbers can actually support. A new Cybertruck promotional video adds another Tesla-specific item to the docket. Mauer also works in a few other items and keeps the docket moving without much digression. Near the end, he mentions that Elon appears to be lining up a SpaceX company update for January 11. He notes that a Tesla company update is also expected after the 10-K, roughly a week after earnings. The closing tone stays watchful rather than breathless. It leaves the listener with a clear sense of what changed, what is still only early signal, and what dates are worth watching next.

As heard by us

A measured Tesla update that treats market share gains and FSD progress as signals, not conclusions.

Tesla Daily spends this episode on three clear threads: the 2023 auto-market picture, early employee feedback on FSD Beta v12.1, and a new Cybertruck promo clip.

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Track 2023 auto-market share, FSD Beta v12.1 employee chatter, and a new Cybertruck promo video in one pass.

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