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Tesla doubles its revenue and powers ahead with new Model 3

Elon Musk-owned electric car maker delivered a record 25,000 vehicles in first quarter

Tesla Motors’ new mass-market Model 3 electric cars are expected to go into production in July. The company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, hopes to produce 500,000 cars annually from 2018. Photograph: Reuters

Thu May 4 2017 - 08:21

Electric car maker Tesla reported quarterly revenue that more than doubled and also trumped analysts' expectations, driven by record deliveries of its Model X sports utility vehicles and Model S saloons.

Tesla, led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, delivered 25,000 vehicles in the first quarter ended March 31st, its highest since the carmaker went public in 2010, and a 69 per cent increase from a year earlier.

The company also backed its target of launching its highly anticipated mass market Model 3 saloon later this year, and said the car was on track for initial production in July.

Midsize sedan

Tesla is betting on the launch of its $35,000 (€32,149) Model 3 midsize sedan to help meet its goal of producing 500,000 cars annually in 2018. The Model 3 is expected to go on sale later this year in the US.

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The company said on Wednesday it expects year-to-date capital expenditures to be slightly over $2 billion by the time it starts Model 3 production.

The company reiterated its forecast of delivering 47,000-50,000 Model S and Model X cars in the first half of 2017, a target it announced earlier this year. Analysts are expecting deliveries of 25,000 vehicles for the current quarter, according to financial data and analytics firm FactSet.

Tesla said it had $4.01 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31st, compared with $3.39 billion at the end of the previous quarter.

Net loss

Tesla said net loss attributable to common shareholders widened to $330.3 million in the first quarter ended March 31st, from $282.3 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, net loss narrowed to $2.04 per share from $2.13 per share.

Revenue more than doubled to $2.70 billion from $1.15 billion, and edged past analysts’ average expectation of $2.62 billion.

Tesla’s results reflect the first full quarter that includes solar panel installer SolarCity, which it bought last year.

The Silicon Valley automaker became the most valuable US carmaker by market capitalisation last month, pulling ahead of Detroit's auto heavyweights Ford Motor Company and General Motors.

Up to Wednesday’s close, shares of Tesla had risen 45.6 per cent this year.

– (Reuters)

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