Morgan Stanley: Tesla Is Bigger Than Electric Cars

Hot on the heels of Elon Musk's unveiling of the Tesla D, Morgan Stanley auto analysts Adam Jonas has published a note saying that Tesla is shaking up the auto industry - but doing things than go beyond electric cars.

"Tesla is the world's most important car company," he writes, before launching into his "key takeaways" from Thursday night's event in Los Angeles.

Jonas touts Tesla and Musk's incredible marketing and PR power. In an appearance on CNBC on Friday, he pointed out that big car companies spend billions of advertising, while all Musk has to do to create a frenzy online and in traditional media is write one tweet and and add a mysterious photo. It's all free!

Jonas also points out that Tesla's cars are as much about software and technology as they are about sheet metal. Unlike all the other cars on the road, they "learn" on the fly, with over-the-air software updates. Conventional cars are capable of getting smarter, but Tesla's are already brilliant.

Then there's the leapfrogging of the competition. "The Morgan Stanley global auto team are big believers in the commercialization of autonomous cars," Jonas writes. "Tesla appears uniquely positioned to pioneer key developments in this area to achieve pole position vs. the incumbents."

So sure, Tesla's are a blast to drive. But the future will belong to the mobility providers who can take the driver out of the equation.

He wraps it all up by shaking his head in amazement at all Tesla has achieved over the past few years, launching the Model S to rave reviews and never taking its foot off the accelerator.