Tesla makes 5,000 Model 3 a week, but can it continue?



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by TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer

DOSSIER – In this May 27, 2018, record photo, a Model 3 2018 sedan is at a Tesla dealership in Littleton, Colorado Tesla Inc. manufactured 5,031 models at Model 3 electric cars reduced prices during the last week of June, surpassing its often missed goal of 5,000 per week. Tesla said it made 28,578 Model 3 from April through June, according to its quarterly production on Monday, July 2nd. (AP photo / David Zalubowski, record)

Tesla Inc. made 5,031 electric model 3 cars during the last week of June, exceeding its often missed target of 5,000 per week. But the company has still managed to produce only an average of 2,118 per week for the quarter.

Tesla reported making 28,578 Model 3 from April through June, according to his quarterly output released Monday.

The Model 3, which starts at $ 35,000, is key to turning Tesla from a niche manufacturer of expensive electric cars to a cost-effective, mass-market automaker. The company desperately needs money from compact cars to meet the promise of CEO Elon Musk to post net profit and positive cash flow in the third and fourth quarters. The company has had only two profitable quarters in its 15 years of history.

To reach the 5000-by-week mark, Tesla had to erect a second Model 3 assembly line in a tent outside its Fremont, California plant. Musk had to spend nights at the factory to solve problems of automation and other problems.

The company now plans to reach 6,000 models 3 per week by the end of August, with its Model 3 assembly line under the roof of the factory. "The last 12 months have been some of the most difficult in Tesla's history," the group said. Reaching the 5,000 mark "was not easy but it was well worth it," the statement said.

Tesla critics are now wondering if the company can maintain the rate of 5,000 per week and wonder if it can build Dave Sullivan, director of product analysis at AutoPacific Inc., a market research firm and a former director of the manufacture of high quality motor vehicles, under the robust tent, on the site of the former joint venture of General Motors and Toyota

Ford Motor Co., said reaching the 5000-by-week will not make Tesla profitable by itself. He predicted the company would struggle to keep the rate because parts suppliers will struggle to keep up and bottlenecks will develop in the body and paint shops.

Efraim Levy, Analyst CFRA Research, lowered its Sell rating, saying it does not see the production rate as "operational or financially viable" in the short term.But over time, it expects that He's getting up. "However, the stock is trading above his $ 12-month price target of $ 300, so he recommends selling it, he wrote Monday in a note to investors.

The shares of Tesla Inc. fell 2% to 336.46.

Last summer, when the first models 3 began to break the chain, Musk promised to build 5,000 a week in December and 10,000 per week in 2018. But he also warned at the time that Tesla was entering at least six "The making of hell."

On Monday, the company said it delivered 18,440 models 3 during the quarter to help satisfy a waiting list that is now being held. Approximately 420,000. Some have held up for their cars since March 2016, when the company began taking orders. In addition, 11,166 models are being delivered to owners, the company said.

Currently, the cheapest 3 model that can be ordered costs around $ 49,000 and can go up to $ 70,000. The company did not say when it will start producing the $ 35,000 version.

Tesla also said that he delivered 10,930 Model S sedans and 11,370 SUV X models during the quarter.

Model 3 sales are essential to Tesla's future. The company burned more than $ 1 billion in cash in the first quarter. Wall Street investors, who pushed the company's shares above $ 340 a share, are eager for losses.

Moody's Investor Service downgraded Tesla's debt to unwanted territory in March, warning that Tesla will not have money to cover $ 3.7 billion for normal operations, capital expenditures and debt that matures early next year. Tesla said cash from Model 3 sales will pay bills and generate profits.

million. Musk told investors during a conference call about the first quarter results that the company was relying too much on automation. We had to hire more people to work at the factory.

But regardless of these problems, Musk was in a festive mood on Sunday.

"I think we just became a real car company," he wrote in a note. employees

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Paul Wiseman, editor-in-chief of the AP, contributed to this story.

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