Tesla's future hangs on the launch of the Model S sedan, which it confirms for 2012.
For a company with only one model nearing the end of its life to sell California battery-car start-up Tesla Motors remains charged up. The maker announced a 10% increase in revenues for the third quarter, along with a big jump in its margins. But while losses were trimmed, it remains well in the red, the battery car maker revealed.
Tesla, which has lately been signing a spate of joint ventures and other alliances, also says it remains on track to bring its second model, the 7-seat Model S sedan, to market for a 2012 launch.
“We continued to garner high-profile endorsements of our industry-leading technology and electric powertrain systems,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk declared in a prepared release.
The company reported a net loss for the third quarter of $34.9 million, down from $38.5 million during the second quarter of 2010. Revenues, however, increased 10%, to 31.2%, while Tesla claimed an improvement in margins from 22% to 30% between the second and third quarters.
The key to the improved numbers was a 15% increase in sales of the Tesla Roadster, the two-seat sports car the maker launched in 2008. It marked the strongest demand for the Roadster in two years, reflecting Tesla’s push into overseas markets. The company now claims to have sold 1,300 Roadsters in 31 markets.
But as production is scheduled to wind down, it becomes critical for Tesla to move ahead with a more mainstream offering, and there have been growing concerns about whether and when the Model S would make its appearance.
According to the Tesla release, the battery sedan is “on track” for a mid-2012 launch. Last month, Tesla took title to the plant where the new battery-electric vehicle will be produced, a former Toyota plant, in Fremont, California.
According to Musk, the plant is being “rapidly” prepared, while road tests of Model S prototypes have been underway “for several weeks now, with positive results.”
The $42 million purchase of Toyota’s old NUMMI plant was accompanied by a $50 million investment by the Japanese maker. Toyota also will reveal a new battery car it is developing with Tesla during next week’s Los Angeles Auto Show. The RAV4-EV is set to go on sale in 2012.
Meanwhile, Toyota’s own battery supplier, Panasonic, this month announced plans for a $30 million investment in Tesla. (For more, Click Here.)
And Daimler AG, parent of Mercedes-Benz and Smart, is continuing its relationship with the California battery car maker.
Analysts still question the long-term viability of the company, which will not only have to prove it can turn out a competitive product in the form of the Model S, but operate a large manufacturing facility that, at its peak, was turning out as many as 400,000 vehicles annually.
Until now, Tesla has handled only limited assembly duties, receiving nearly-finished Roadster bodies from its affiliate, Lotus, and then fitting the vehicle with its electric drivetrain and trim components.