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Tesla Loses More Than $4,000 on Every Car Sold
Metro US ^ | 8/9

Posted on 08/09/2015 5:41:34 PM PDT by nickcarraway

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 percent on Thursday and slipped another 2 percent 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at metro.us ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Hobbies; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: automakers; tesla
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1 posted on 08/09/2015 5:41:34 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

That seems typical of the “green” economy.


2 posted on 08/09/2015 5:44:00 PM PDT by JimSEA
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To: nickcarraway
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.

And with that business model, what investor wouldn't be lining up to buy?

3 posted on 08/09/2015 5:45:07 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!Just read)
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To: nickcarraway

Tesla doesn’t lose squat.

The tab is picked up by US taxpayers.


4 posted on 08/09/2015 5:45:08 PM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: nickcarraway

As long as it isn’t my money they are losing.


5 posted on 08/09/2015 5:46:20 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (There's a right to gay marriage in the Constitution but there is no right of an unborn baby to life.)
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To: nickcarraway

who cares, it’s just taxpayer money.


6 posted on 08/09/2015 5:46:30 PM PDT by dadfly
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To: nickcarraway

Yes, but they plan to make it up in volume.


7 posted on 08/09/2015 5:48:05 PM PDT by Hugin ("Do yourself a favor--first thing, get a firearm!")
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To: nickcarraway

Obola will bail them out.


8 posted on 08/09/2015 5:48:36 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (To defeat the democRATs, we must first defeat the Republicans.)
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To: nickcarraway

I keep telling Elon he should sell his controlling interest in Tesla and focus his energies on SpaceX, but the guy just won’t listen to me!


9 posted on 08/09/2015 5:50:52 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: nickcarraway

Not investment advice, but maybe he as gone as far as he can go and the sharks will circle and someone will bite, aka make a bid for it ( I have my own thoughts on where his product line would fit with one firm in particular). My auto gnomes respect what he has done, he is driving battery improvements, but I don’t see this working for him in the long run Just MHO.


10 posted on 08/09/2015 5:51:17 PM PDT by taildragger (It's Cruz & Walker. Anything else is a Yugo with Racing Stripes....)
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To: Hugin

+1


11 posted on 08/09/2015 5:52:05 PM PDT by aposiopetic
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To: nickcarraway

They should raise the price of their cars. Was that so hard?


12 posted on 08/09/2015 5:53:55 PM PDT by subterfuge (Minneseeota: the laughingstock of the nation - for lots of reasons!)
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To: nickcarraway

I have a friend who recently passed away who made car trailers that lost money on every one he built. He went bankrupt and lost EVERYTHING he had including his marriage.


13 posted on 08/09/2015 6:03:06 PM PDT by painter ( Isaiah: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,")
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To: nickcarraway

If they stop spending money on capital they would make money on each car right now. They’re building a battery factory in Nevada and superchargers all around the world


14 posted on 08/09/2015 6:26:55 PM PDT by 4rcane
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Fortunes have been lost betting against Elon Musk. His focus, determination and work ethic are legendary, and the rumors of his demise have been wrong, time and again.


15 posted on 08/09/2015 6:28:20 PM PDT by pingman (Cruz or lose!)
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To: nickcarraway

Elon Musk is the P.T. Barnum of the Tesla circus

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/culture/technology/elon-musk-is-the-ringmaster-of-the-tesla-circus/article24059817/


16 posted on 08/09/2015 6:29:24 PM PDT by CreviceTool (A Good Samaritan with a handgun saved my life...)
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To: painter

It depends how the money is spent. If you’re putting money in an investment with hopes of generating a positive return into the future, then its worth doing. If you’re putting money into money pit with no hopes of generating a positive return, then its a waste of money. Tesla is capital intensive. All money invested will generative huge returns in the future. People shouldn’t think short term, but long term. Investment is not gambling, it takes time


17 posted on 08/09/2015 6:33:53 PM PDT by 4rcane
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To: nickcarraway

Analysts are concentrating on the company and its products and its losses. That’s not the value of the company lies. The company is Elon Musk, and it’s Mr Musk that people are banking or investing on. If Musk were not involved with Tesla, the company would’ve folded years ago.

So, people, please give the guy a chance, and with his super-duper high intelligence, he’s bound to make the company into a success and convert it into the envy of all other automakers. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t follow sound economic principles. He is, after all, a genius, and he will prove to the rest of the world that, he knows best. (Believe any of that, and I can easily sell you a bridge between Manhattan and London).

But, there are so many stupid people out there, that, they believe anything that Musk is involved with, will turn to gold.


18 posted on 08/09/2015 6:36:47 PM PDT by adorno (w)
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To: nickcarraway; All

Not to worry they make up all that loss by getting government hand outs


19 posted on 08/09/2015 6:42:14 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: nickcarraway
"... didn't rule out selling more stock."


20 posted on 08/09/2015 6:43:39 PM PDT by CapnJack
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