Elon Musk Wants to Sell Something Special to Japan

Tesla's billionaire CEO also runs Boring Co., a construction company that aims to 'solve soul-destroying traffic' in and around major cities.

Elon Musk has mastered the art of promotion and marketing. 

And he's effectively chief marketing officer and ambassador for his companies' products, which saves them big bucks on their marketing budgets.

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Consider Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report. The billionaire, who has more than 133 million Twitter followers, uses social media to help sell the electric-vehicle-market leader's products. 

For example, he regularly promotes full-self-driving, Tesla’s $15,000 advanced driver-assistance system. Musk keeps consumers and Tesla customers fully informed of FSD updates.

A Tunnel Under Tokyo?

"FSD is getting really good," Musk said on April 2.

Musk this year has been touting the Cybertruck, Tesla's first pickup truck, which will start production later in 2023. Almost every week Musk comments to fuel the excitement around this pickup, the most anticipated vehicle of the past decade.

"Walked whole Cybertruck production line at Giga Texas for several hours earlier today – gonna be awesome!" the billionaire said on Apr. 2.

As a result of his efforts, Tesla does not advertise. It does not have a marketing budget and does not invest in commercials, according to StockApps.com.

Besides Tesla, Musk also promotes products developed by his other companies. He has just taken advantage of a tweet about traffic jams in Tokyo to offer the services of Boring Co. to the Japanese authorities.

"The Shibuya Crossing in Tokio [sic] is frequently called 'the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world'”, a Twitter user posted on April 2. "A flow measurement survey estimated up to 390,000 pedestrians per day.”

Musk immediately weighed in.

"Can I interest you in a tunnel, perhaps? @boringcompany,” he offered.

'A Large Network of Tunnels' Eases Congestion

The Shibuya Crossing is indeed one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in the world and perhaps the most iconic symbol of the city of Tokyo. 

Due to its huge advertising screens and heavy foot traffic, Shibuya Crossing is often compared with Times Square in New York and Piccadilly Circus in London. 

Located in the heart of Tokyo, it reflects the city's ultra-modern image.

Boring Co. is an infrastructure-services company with a mission to solve traffic problems and transform cities. The company touts its tunneling abilities: It digs tunnels, in Las Vegas in particular, to relieve traffic jams and other issues.

"Tunnels minimize usage of valuable surface land and do not conflict with existing transportation systems," the tunnel venture says on its website. "A large network of tunnels can alleviate congestion in any city; no matter how large a city grows, more levels of tunnels can be added."

Last year, the company, which was founded in 2016, raised $675 million from an investor group led by venture firms Vy Capital and Sequoia Capital, with participation from Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, 8VC, Craft Ventures, and DFJ Growth. The transaction increased Boring Co.'s valuation to $5.68 billion.

The funds were to be used to significantly increase hiring across engineering, operations, and production, to build and scale loop projects, including the Vegas Loop and others, and to accelerate the research and development of Prufrock and future products, the company said then.

Loop is an all-electric high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported to their destinations with no stops. 

The first major loop built by Boring Co. is in Las Vegas, a 29-mile tunnel network connecting 51 stations. Tesla has a fleet of vehicles in the loop with human drivers who ferry convention-goers.

Prufrock is the next-generation tunnel machine designed to develop megainfrastructure projects in a matter of weeks at a fraction of current costs, according to Boring Co.

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