Will FSD be the panacea to save Tesla's stock price? It doesn't seem to be the case at the moment

With the weakening effect of the "price war" boosting sales and the slowing market demand, Tesla's stock price has fallen by more than 31% since the beginning of this year. Will FSD (Full Self-Driving) become a new catalyst for its stock price? Starting from March 16, 2024, Tesla began pushing the latest FSD Beta V12.3 advanced driver assistance system to users who have ordered and subscribed to FSD across the United States, and on April 13, they reduced the monthly subscription fee by 50% to $99. Some analysts point out that Musk's move is aimed at promoting the popularization of its autonomous driving assistance system before the release of the first-quarter financial report. However, it seems that the pricing of FSD is still beyond the acceptance range of the vast majority of consumers. Currently, the pricing of Tesla's FSD in North America is $12,000 for a lifetime purchase or $99 per month for subscription. A recent survey initiated by Canadian investment bank Canaccord Genuity on "How much are you willing to pay for Tesla's FSD?" shows that 82.7% of respondents are only willing to pay $10,000 or less, with only 5.6% of respondents willing to pay $12,000 for the entire FSD package. The data also shows that more than half of the respondents have a psychological price range between $2,500 and $5,000, which is less than half of the current FSD pricing. It is reported that the survey aims to understand consumers' willingness to pay for FSD and has attracted thousands of consumers to participate, mainly involving three questions: Do you own a Tesla car? Have you tried FSD in 2024? How much are you willing to pay for FSD? The survey results show that 73.3% of respondents are Tesla car owners, and 60.2% of respondents have used FSD technology this year. Regardless of whether they are Tesla car owners, the proportion of people willing to spend $12,000 to purchase FSD is very small. Specifically, among 73.3% of Tesla car owners, only 5.8% are willing to pay $12,000, while 82.6% of owners choose to pay $10,000 or less Among the 26.7% of non-owners surveyed, 5.2% are willing to pay $12,000, which is almost as low as Tesla owners' willingness to pay. Even after experiencing FSD technology this year, consumers' willingness to pay has not significantly increased. The survey results show that among the 60.2% of participants who tried FSD technology this year, 6.3% are willing to pay $12,000, while about 80.6% are willing to pay $10,000 or less. Among the 39.8% of respondents who have not tried FSD, only 4.5% are willing to pay $12,000, while 85.8% are willing to pay $10,000 or less.