Elon Musk said that he will not sell his shares Tesla, the electric vehicle maker named after famed inventor Nikola Tesla, for at least the next 18-24 months despite a probe into Uyghur forced labour.
The Tesla founder warned, following the fall in share prices, that he thought there would be a “serious recession” in 2023 and demand for ‘big-ticket items’ such as a new car will be lower.
Musk has sold almost $40 billion of his own shares which experts say has contributed to Tesla shares sliding to their lowest since September 2020, inews reported.
Tesla shares are on track for their worst month ever losing almost 10 per cent of their value on Thursday alone after it emerged it was offering $7,500 discounts on its most popular electric vehicles delivered in the United States this month.
To add to his problems and those of his investors problems it was revealed that US Senators are investigating whether car makers including Tesla and General Motors are using parts and materials made with forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region, the British portal reported.
In June, a US law banned the import of forced-labour goods from Xinjiang, in a pushback against Beijing’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, which Washington has labelled genocide.
In the letter, committee chairman Ron Wyden said: "It is vital that auto makers scrutinise their relationships with all suppliers linked to Xinjiang.
"Unless due diligence confirms that components are not linked to forced labour, auto makers cannot and should not sell cars in the US that include components mined or produced in Xinjiang."
