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Elon probably said on both occurrences that robotaxis and the 25k$ cars were priority #1.

Anyway it doesn't hurt -even if this is a lie- to say the cheap cars are coming. It sucks financial derisking off of competitors. To competition, Tesla doing a cheap car means no margin for a decade, if ever. Sometimes a little lie can go a long way for moat building.

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As a publicly traded company, isn't lying a risk in terms of shareholder lawsuits or the SEC?

I have heard that “everything is securities fraud”.

On the other hand, what stops one from actually starting some low-key exploratory steps towards a new car, which you then mention as “we have something in the works” for a few years and then you cancel it that some point, after scaring most would be competitors? More effort than just running one’s mouth, sure..

Have you heard of Boring company before?

True, there's a lot of wiggle room between outright lies and strategic narrative crafting. That said, I think it's absolute hyperbole that they are "scaring most would be competitors". If anything, competitors can use the public's response to Tesla announcements as free market research. They also can look to Tesla's track record at delivering on time and at promised price points to make their decisions.

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