Two months ago, Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk said that his company would deliver 5,000 units of its Model S this year. Yet, when he was interviewed on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop with Betty Liu” on September 21, he was reluctant to confirm that the company’s electric saloon would indeed meet its initial sales target.
“I need to be very hesitant about talking about any near-term metrics for Tesla”, said Musk who, nevertheless, was buoyant about Tesla’s 2013 targets claiming that it will deliver 20,000 units and achieve a gross margin of “more than 20 percent”.
He was also confident about his company’s long-term prospects: “Demand is not a problem for Tesla”, he claimed. “Probably the biggest reason people don’t put down a reservation for our cars is they have to wait too long to get it.”
On the other hand, auto industry forecaster Baum & Associates’ principal Alan Baum, commented, “Should the company not meet the 5,000-unit goal, it will have some negative impact on revenue in the fourth quarter.”
Musk wants Tesla, which is cooperating with Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, to start making a profit from next year as its Model S saloon will be joined in late 2013 by the Model X SUV.
The company also announced on its website that it would add 10 more stores to its dealership network, bringing its North America and worldwide totals to 24 and 34 respectively.
Meanwhile, the first Model S popped up on eBay. The asking price for the yet-to-be launched Signature Series was US$145,000, a 50 percent markup from the list price. The Portland, Maine dealer was accepting bids starting at US$138,500 but the deadline ended on September 20, 10:18:40 PDT and the number of bids it attracted was… zero.
By Andrew Tsaousis
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