2015 Automotive News World Congress: Tesla CEO Elon Musk urges auto industry to accelerate electric-vehicle development: "You won't regret it"

DETROIT -- Jan. 13, 2015: Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors, urged executives at established automotive companies to accelerate the development and sale of electric vehicles during the Automotive News World Congress today.

"We can't rely on scarcity to drive the price of oil and gas and rely on that to be an adequate forcing function" to speed adoption of electric vehicles, he said at the sold-out event. During a hour-long dialog with Automotive News Publisher and Editor Jason Stein, he said, "We have to figure out how to do it without high oil and gas prices."

"Invest in electric vehicles," he said. "You won't regret it."

Musk discussed a wide range of topics, including future sales goals, the path to profitability, the company's early history and the current state of Tesla.

Musk is among more than 20 industry leaders to address the sold out group of more than 1,200 attendees. Additional speakers at the Automotive News World Congress are Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors; Sergio Marchionne,CEO, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V.; Joe Hinrichs, EVP and President – The Americas, Ford Motor Company; Joe Eberhardt, President, Jaguar Land Rover North America; Chris Urmson, Director – Self-Driving Cars, Google[x]; Scott Painter, Founder and CEO, TrueCar; and Jared Rowe, President AutoTrader.com.

The 2015 Automotive News World Congress is the 39th annual gathering of leading automotive industry executives in Detroit, which began on Tuesday, January 13, the second and final media preview day of the North American International Auto Show. The theme of the Congress is "Setting the Pace in a Thriving Market," and includes special sessions on Vehicle Innovation and Retail Marketing.

The Automotive News World Congress is taking place in the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.

The 2015 Automotive News World Congress is sponsored by PwC and IBM. Additional conference sponsors are IHS Automotive, BorgWarner, Brose, Canada, Georgia Allies, Germany Trade & Invest, Microsoft, Dominion Dealer Solutions, GKN, Liase, Invest Macedonia, MSX International, SAP, Steel Market Development Institute, A2MAC1, Gallagher-Kaiser, Infor, OESA, Quickdraft, Schaeffler, and VIA Motors

Recipients of the Polk Loyalty Awards will be announced during Tuesday evening's dinner program. Wednesday's dinner program will feature presentation of the Automotive News/PwC Shareholder Value Awards, the BorgWarner Championship Driver's Trophy to the 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and the BorgWarner Team Owner's Trophy to Michael Andretti. A Thursday morning tour of the North American International Auto Show concludes the conference.