Musk also claimed that “there have not been new car [brands] that have been successful for 100 years, apart from Tesla.”
Some automotive brands that were founded in the last 100 years:
Chrysler (1924) Volvo (1927) BMW (1928) Datsun/Nissan (1931/1933) Fiat (1932) Toyota (1936) Volkswagen (1937) Jeep (1943) Land Rover (1948) Honda (1963)
Stainless work hardens quickly. So if there’s a dent, it’s now “harder” than anything around it. Most steel can be moved around quite a bit before it starts to harden in any useful fashion. It’s also, generally, harder. So it wears out tools and tooling faster.