By Sam Boughedda
A GLJ Research analyst reiterated a Sell rating and $73 price target on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a note Tuesday.
The staunch Tesla bear said in the research note that documents from a Freedom of Information Act request show "gross negligence" and "incompetence" at the NHTSA, and its approach with Tesla isn't sustainable.
"38 of NHTSA's 47 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems ('ADAS') crash investigations involve TSLA, without any subsequent actions against the company (despite credible allegations of 12 verified, and 18 separate claimed, U.S. deaths tied to the use of TSLA's ADAS systems)," said the analyst.
He added that four U.S. Congressmen, including Edward Markey, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, and Jan Schakowsky, are now asking tough questions about the safety of TSLA's FSD vaporware technology.
Furthermore, the analyst argued: "The Head of NHTSA abruptly announcing his departure from the organization, last week, to return to the California Air Resources Board ('CARB'), an agency that provided TSLA with hundreds of millions in California taxpayer money for a promise it never delivered on (i.e., battery swaps), we now see elevated regulatory risk associated with TSLA that we did not see before."
Tesla shares are up 0.5% Tuesday.