Martin Eberhard, the co-founder and former CEO of Tesla said it’s a “shame” that Tesla is cancelling plans for a low-cost Model 2 and replacing it with a Robotaxi.

Eberhard was speaking at the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong.

"We have both read in the news, Tesla delaying or eliminating their low-end Model 2 program, which is a shame for them, but it's a sign that China has a chance to really spread there," said Eberhard, as reported by Reuters.

Although Elon Musk is synonymous with Tesla, Musk only joined Tesla later, after investing into the company founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

On the day Reuters broke news that plans for a low-cost Model 2 has been scrapped, Elon Musk posted on X, “Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8.”

Musk has been pitching the idea of a self-driving car since 2016. Despite the marketing claims, all Tesla auto-pilot features, including Full Self Driving (FSD), don’t meet legal requirements to qualify as an SAE Level 5 true self-driving car.

In 2019, Musk suggested that self-driving Tesla robotaxis can be introduced as early as 2020.