Tesla(US:TSLA) Benzinga·2026-03-04 17:36Core Insights - Tesla Inc is approaching a significant manufacturing milestone with the Cybercab, a fully autonomous vehicle, set to begin volume production in April at Gigafactory Texas [1] - The Cybercab will utilize Tesla's new "Unboxed" manufacturing process, which has not been tested at scale before [2] Manufacturing Process - The "Unboxed" process involves building five major modules separately and then assembling them, allowing for simultaneous installation of components [2][3] - This method aims to reduce the vehicle assembly cycle time to 10 seconds, a significant improvement from the one-minute cycle time for the Model Y [3] Production Status - The first production Cybercab was completed in mid-February, ahead of schedule, with 25 units observed at Giga Texas [5] - Initial production is expected to be slow before ramping up significantly, with full volume production anticipated in four to eight weeks [5] Market Predictions - Traders on Polymarket estimate a 34% chance that Tesla will sell a $30,000 Cybercab to retail customers by the end of the year [6] - Federal approval is required for the Cybercab to operate on public roads, which has not yet been secured [6] Competitive Landscape - Investor Gary Black suggests that Waymo may compete effectively with Tesla by leveraging better execution despite Tesla's lower hardware costs [7] Stock Performance - Tesla's stock (TSLA) was trading around $387, reflecting a decline of approximately 20% from its December highs [8] - Upcoming Q1 earnings on April 28 are expected to provide further insights into the Cybercab's production ramp rates [8]