I'm sorry but that's just flat out wrong. Just last year Mercedes advertised their blatently inferior (compared to Tesla's AP1 at the time) driving-assist features as literally "Self-driving" and saw NONE of the backlash that Tesla faced with the autopilot accident. And Tesla has never advertised their current or former Autopilot as being "Self-driving".
I think the opposite is happening - that Tesla is under much more scrutiny because they're the new one on the block. Because the established automakers have done some terrible shit, which would absolutely kill Tesla as a company.
I'll gladly find sources and further elaborate, if you're interested.
It's worth noting though that the estimates for the Gigafactory have been massively revised (although no one seems to pay any attention to it) and will now be producing 100+ GWh of batteries yearly and Musk had stated that they're announcing 2-4 more this year.
I think the opposite is happening - that Tesla is under much more scrutiny because they're the new one on the block. Because the established automakers have done some terrible shit, which would absolutely kill Tesla as a company.
I'll gladly find sources and further elaborate, if you're interested.