Elon Musk says he's worried about the 'high interest rate environment we’re in'

foxbusiness.com:

Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber has the latest on the company's earnings on The Claman Countdown.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the EV maker’s earnings call on Wednesday that he is concerned about the impact of high interest rates on would-be car buyers.

«I’m worried about the high interest rate environment that we’re in,» Musk told investors. «I just can’t emphasize it enough that for the vast majority of people, buying a car is about the monthly payment. And as interest rates rise, the proportion of that monthly payment that is interest increases naturally. So if interest rates remain high, or they go even higher, it’s that much harder for people to buy the car.»

As inflation rose in 2022, and the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to tamp down the surge in consumer prices, Tesla cut prices on several occasions this year to help keep the cost of its cars competitive for consumers.

ELON MUSK WANTS TO ‘TEMPER EXPECTATIONS’ ON TESLA CYBERTRUCK; THINKS IT’S ‘OUR BEST PRODUCT EVER’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on an earnings call that he's worried about the impact of the high interest rate environment on consumers. (Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

«We have to make our cars more affordable for people to buy, and I keep harping on this interest thing, but it’s just the interest rate raises the cost of the car,» Musk said. «Looking at an internal analysis, which I think is more or less on track, but when you look at the cost of the price reductions we’ve made in say the Model Y, and you compare that to how much people’s monthly payment has risen due to interest rates, the price of the Model Y is almost unchanged.»

«The thing that matters is the monthly payment. It’s how much