Posted on 08/09/2015 10:29:21 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It's crunch time for Tesla Motors.
The Silicon Valley automaker is losing more than $4,000 on every Model S electric sedan it sells, using its reckoning of operating losses, and it burned $359 million in cash last quarter in a bull market for luxury vehicles. The company on Wednesday cut its production targets for this year and next. Chief Executive Elon Musk said he's considering options to raise more capital and didn't rule out selling more stock.
Musk has taken investors on a thrill ride since taking Tesla public in 2010. Now he's given himself a deadline, promising that by the first quarter of 2016 Tesla will be making enough money to fund a jump from making one expensive, low-volume car to mass-producing multiple models and expanding a venture to manufacture electric-power-storage systems.
Tesla's shares fell almost 9% on Thursday and slipped another 2% on Friday as investors and analysts weighed the risks of Musk's ambitious plans for expanding Tesla's auto and energy-storage businesses. Tesla had just $1.15 billion on hand as of June 30, down from $2.67 billion a year earlier.
Automakers consume cash to pay for assembly-line equipment, including metal dies and plastic molds, as well as testing to meet safety and emissions standards. A typical new car can cost $1 billion or more to engineer and bring to market.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Thats ok they will make it up on volume
That Musk guy is a genius! (at stealing taxpayer money)
It’s OK, losses don’t matter, as long as Democrats are in charge!
This guy is taking investors, taxpayers and buyers for a ride. I guess, though, it is an “electric” ride.
It’s not like it’s Tesla’s money.
Beat me to it.
Well because its an electric car liberals are OK with it. Next step will be federal subsidies to Tesla.
Tesla should function as any other car. Meaning, the free market should determine if there is demand for these vehicles. The market should decide if Tesla can stay in business and make a go of it.
If they can sell these cars and ultimately turn a profit for their investors, great. That’s what capitalism is all about.
Somebody needs to call the epa and report elon for polluting the air by burning money.
Musk isn’t losing money. The taxpayers who are being forced at gunpoint to finance his snakeoil-powered cars the only ones losing.
You ought to see the ride he’s getting just east of Reno. Batteries R Us.
Doesn’t begin to tell about the cost burden the scheme entails such as forcing taxpayers to subsidize via tax subsidies in the form of rebates and direct manufacturer subsidies.
Yep, the Musketeer sees the light at the end of his human tube boondoggle, and it does not look good. Time to ask for more taxpayer money.
I don’t believe that statement is accurate. You can not lose your money if you are not spending your money. The American taxpayer is losing $4k per car.
Musk should have did his startup in china. No short-sighted investors, no lazy stupid union members, favorable tax laws, and no bureaucratic red tape to hack through.
For the life of me, I can’t see how anyone would want to make anything in the US, when plenty of business friendly Asian and central American countries are around to do business in.
I was wondering when to short this pig. Probably missed the top.
Subsidies as a business strategy, stinks.
Billions in subsidies aren’t enough for them yet...
Interesting you mention China, as there have been reports China (and Toyota for that matter), reverse engineered the Tesla and found it’s probably a lot more than $4k per car Tesla loses. That’s why there’s no *cheaper* knockoffs being produced.
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