German automaker BMW (OTC:BMWYY) on Tuesday applauded American EV giant Tesla Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TSLA) full self-driving (FSD) driver assistance software's latest version, terming it "very impressive."
What Happened: BMW was responding to a video of a Tesla owner navigating through streets without their hands on the wheel using version 13 of the company's FSD software.
"Wery impressive," BMW wrote on social media platform X.
— BMW (@BMW) December 10, 2024
very impressive
Tesla responded to the comment with a cheeky "Hi BMW" and a grinning emoji.
Hi @BMW
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 10, 2024
The comment has raised hopes among Tesla bulls that the company could eventually license the technology for their vehicles.
"At some point $TSLA will sign an FSD licensing deal with another auto mnfr (manufacturer) who hasn't developed an autonomous driving package to their liking. One deal will cause others to follow and then analysts will build licensing revs into their TSLA models and price targets. No one knows when the first one will hit, but there is at least one incoming," Gary Black, Managing Partner at The Future Fund, said on Tuesday.
Black, however, added that he wouldn't be accounting for a potential licensing deal while determining his price target for Tesla.
"There has to be real meat behind it or we don't count it," Black said. The analyst has a 6-12 month price target of $380 on Tesla.
At some point $TSLA will sign an FSD licensing deal with another auto mnfr who hasn't developed an autonomous driving package to their liking. One deal will cause others to follow and then analysts will build licensing revs into their TSLA models and price targets. No one knows...
— Gary Black (@garyblack00) December 10, 2024
Why It Matters: Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this year that the company would be "happy" to license its full self-driving (FSD) technology to other car companies.
However, in January, the company said that it had not entered into a single FSD licensing agreement.
Though the company had some tentative conversations, no agreement was entered into. "I think they (rival automakers) don't believe it's real quite yet," Musk then said."I do want to emphasize that if I were CEO of another car company, I would definitely be calling Tesla and asking to license Tesla's full self-driving technology."
Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
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