Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) “The Most Important Car Company in the World”: Morgan Stanley (MS)

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s recent fall from grace may have been largely attributed to a report from Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) released on September 15, but the investment bank is still a firm believer in Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). Speaking to Bloomberg today, Morgan Stanley Managing Director Adam Jonas threw his support behind the electric automaker, and said there simply needed to be a more balanced view on their future prospects.

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“First, we are still believers in the story. We think Tesla is in fact the most important car company in the world. I think if you ask key suppliers you’ll hear that sentiment echoed. We think it’s worth $320, it’s the only auto stock we recommend in North America; we’re underweight rated on both GM and Ford. The message is, there’s probably some room for a bit more balance in the debate right now, and so we do share Elon’s view,” Jonas said.

The last reference was to Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s comments on September 4 in which he stated his own company’s stock price was ”kind of high right now”, and that investors were perhaps getting a bit carried away with their expectations.

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 9% on the day following the report, some of the concerns of which were reiterated by Jonas during the Bloomberg interview. Among those are concerns about the broader electric car maker, which has been largely dismal aside from Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). They also believe it will take some time before Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) will gain a meaningful foothold in China, the world’s largest car market.

Jonas also mentioned a concern which was first raised by his four-year-old son, which is the potential impact autonomous vehicles could have on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and other high-end vehicle’s sales. Will people have any reason to shell out a premium for such a vehicle if they aren’t experiencing the real thrill of driving them? Musk has said fully autonomous vehicles will be ready by 2020, though it could be a few years after that before regulations catch up enough to the point they can be broadly used.

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is up slightly today at $250.72, but still down 4% over the past 5 days and over 10% since September 12.

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