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Elon Musk is years behind on his ambition to render Tesla Inc.s cars fully autonomous. Hes now saying in no uncertain terms that hes willing to bet the companys profit margins on making it happen.

Musk said on a conference call last week that Tesla has the wherewithal to sell cars at zero profit and then earn immense sums later off driverless software.

The trouble with that for investors? His predictions since at least 2019 that autonomous Teslas are just around the corner havent panned out.

Were the only ones making cars that technically we could sell for zero profit for now, and then yield actually tremendous economics in the future through autonomy, Musk said April 19. Im not sure how many of you will appreciate the profundity of what Ive just said, but it is extremely significant.

The challenge Musk has had turning driverless visions into reality isnt stopping him from going forward with markdowns that threaten to set off a price war.

The Austin, Texas-based company has lowered the cost of its top-selling Model Y 29 percent in the span of just a few months. Thats dented the companys margins and spooked investors concerned about deteriorating profits.

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Elon Musk is willing to bet Tesla's profits on a driverless dream - Automotive News