Tesla, once the fastest growing and most profitable automaker in the world, posted tumbling profits in the fourth quarter, capping a year of controversy in the US and growing competition abroad.

Tesla has announced plans to discontinue the Model S and Model X by next quarter. The decision is part of a strategic shift toward high-volume models and future technologies like autonomous driving, as demand for these older premium models has fallen compared to the Model 3 and Model Y.

The company's EVs are profitable and command a formidable market presence with a value "kicker" potentially coming from robotaxis and unsupervised full-self driving; its rivals are not in the same position.

Here's what's happening: If you buy a new Tesla car in the U.S., you will no longer receive the Basic Autopilot set of features, which was previously included with every Tesla. Instead, you're getting Traffic-Aware Cruise Control, which is a feature that maintains set driving speed and slows down when there's a slower vehicle in front of you.

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Tesla investors head into earnings on Wednesday looking for evidence that Elon Musk's long-promised self-driving bet is beginning to materialize even as results show growing strain on the company's electric-vehicle business.

Tesla’s annual profit plunged to its lowest level since the pandemic five years ago as it lost the title of the world’s biggest electric vehicle maker to a Chinese rival and boycotts hammered sales. The EV company run by Elon Musk reported Wednesday that net income last year dropped 46% to $3.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday unveiled an ambitious, but familiar, goal for his company's autonomous vehicle business. "We expect to have fully autonomous vehicles in probably, I don't know, somewhere between a quarter and half of the United States by the end of the year,