Tesla has not created the large design and development capability that would be required to compete with the increasingly numerous BEV competitive vehicles. Nor the production capability to ramp beyond 3 million units per year, in a global market of 90 to 100 million per year.

Both these limitations could be resolved by purchasing either GM or Ford. GM in particular has shown 13 new BEV models, even including dedicated BEV delivery vans. And they have production capacity over 7 million units. But that would leave Tesla with a mostly UAW workforce, which is not desired. And a fleet of dealers, also not desired.

Tesla's has some significant challenges ahead...

In the USA they will have increased competition from upcoming second-generation EVs of the legacy automakers, coupled with fewer remaining early adopters wanting to buy EVs.

In China it's facing ferocious competition from the new domestic Chinese brands.

Elon can't continue with his normal stubborn ways in this environment (e.g., releasing weird-looking vehicles, not releasing newer cheaper models, removing wheel stalks from cars, not providing an option for instrument cluster or HUD on the Y/3 and so on).