On Tuesday, shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) increased by about 5% after CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would offer U.S. customers a free trial of its driver-assist technology for a month. Musk has been promoting the Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology as a potential revenue source for the company.
However, Tesla has failed to deliver on its promise of a fully autonomous driving experience due to regulatory and legal challenges regarding the safety and marketing of its vehicles.
Musk said in a post on social media platform X that “All U.S. cars that are capable of FSD will be enabled for a one-month trial this week.” In two emails, he also instructed employees to provide demonstrations of FSD to new buyers and owners of serviced vehicles.
Tesla’s sales and margins have been negatively impacted by slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles and rising competition in China. As a result, the company has been offering incentives and discounts to boost deliveries. To increase its market share, Tesla has decreased prices and aims to sell its high-margin autonomous technology products to a large base of customers in the future.
Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management, said, “(Free trials) could be a step in the right direction for people beginning to adopt the technology. Maybe this will entice drivers to purchase full self-driving for $12,000 at some point.”
Tesla offers the FSD software at a subscription of $199 a month, but it requires active driver supervision and does not make its vehicles fully autonomous.