Investor Ross Gerber said on Sunday that he viewed the Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Roadster unveiling as a marketing and promotional demonstration rather than the imminent arrival of a new flying car.
Elon Musk’s ‘Hot Wheels Dream’
In a post on the social media platform X, the Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management co-founder said that the public could have had a “different expectation” when Tesla said it was “launching” the new Roadster that would be powered by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) technology and could hover.
“I mistakenly thought we’d be getting a new car (flying) sometime next year,” the investor said. However, the investor then said that he might have been wrong. “After the event it became clear this was a marketing demonstration from an old hot wheels dream of elons,” Gerber said.
Notably, following the debut, Musk, in a response to user Robert Scoble on X on Saturday, said that drivers would be able to “ask the Roadster to perform any of the tricks shown autonomously, as it will be sentient.”
He added that Tesla will create a “wild looping track” that would be “crazier” than toymaker Mattel Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:MAT) Hot Wheels brand of toy cars and play sets where owners would be able to test out the Roadster.
Tesla SpaceX Merger
Following the Roadster debut, speculation about a merger between SpaceX and Tesla gathered steam, with analysts like Gerber, as well as Tesla bull Dan Ives, saying that a merger between the two companies would be obvious.
Merger talks were also sparked by Barclays analyst Dan Levy, who said that the proposal of merging the two enterprises could be presented to investors as early as December this year.
Price Action: TSLA shares were up 0.30% to $355.80 during pre-market trading on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
Image Credit: Tesla/Press