Elon Musk has said that he thinks a recession will last until the spring of 2024, responding to a question on Twitter.
The Tesla CEO had earlier this week blamed “a recession of sorts” in China and Europe as being responsible for reduced demand for the company’s vehicles. In answer to a Twitter user asking how long the recession would last Musk replied: “Just guessing, but probably until spring of ’24.”
It was unclear whether the question and Musk’s answer were referring specifically to the situation in Europe and China or a wider global recession.
China has experienced severe economic downturn sparked by a crisis in the property market, although the country is not officially yet in recession. A number of European countries are on the precipice of recession, with outlooks heavily dependent on developments in Ukraine and difficult to predict.
Musk told analysts during a Wednesday conference call that the situation in China and Europe was making things “a little harder than it otherwise would be”, causing shares of Tesla to fall more than 6%.
At number of brokerages adjusted their price targets on the stock downwards.
Musk said the EV maker would miss its annual delivery target, blaming to limited transportation capacity. Tesla this week also missed analyst estimates for third-quarter revenue.