Tesla Motors said it delivered 6,457 Model S vehicles in the first quarter of this year and built a record 7,535 units of its electric car. In a letter to shareholders, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will expand factory capacity to support increased Model S production later this year and the introduction of Model X (pictured below) next year.
“Extensive development work on Model X is underway and we expect to have production design prototypes ready in Q4,” reads the letter. Production of the new model is expected to start in spring 2015. The company also says it will start construction of the Gigafactory later this year.
Tesla also wants to expand the number of stores and service centers by 75 percent this year, with the Supercharger network targeting an even faster pace. The company wants to install 200 Superchargers worldwide this year, which is double the number of existing stations.
Tesla’s expansion also includes the launch of a right-hand-drive Model S next month for the UK market and in Japan and Hong Kong later this summer.
However, there is also bad news: despite the record production numbers, Tesla posted a net loss of $49.8 million (€35.7 million) in the first quarter, while revenue rose to $620 million. During the same quarter last year, the automaker posted a net income of $11.3 million, on a $555 million revenue.
By Dan Mihalascu
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