The Tesla Model 3's production issues have contributed to Tesla posting a loss of £468 million in the last financial quarter.
The ‘bottlenecks’ which have delayed the delivery of the Model 3 in line with Tesla’s ambitious targets are being addressed, but there are still problems.
Tesla’s 5000-per-week target for Model 3 production has pushed back to late in the first quarter of 2018. Tesla will be clearer as to exactly when this will happen in its next quarterly report. For now, it's still uncertain when the problems will be alleviated.
“While we continue to make significant progress each week in fixing Model 3 bottlenecks, the nature of manufacturing challenges during a ramp-up such as this makes it difficult to predict exactly how long it will take for all bottlenecks to be cleared or when new ones will appear,” the company's latest report reads. Increasing orders for the Model 3 are both helping Tesla and exacerbating the problem.
Tesla's hesitant outlook comes as it celebrates total production of 250,000 cars since the brand’s birth in 2003, as well as the ever-stronger performance of the Model S and Model X; the two are on track to achieve 100,000 deliveries worldwide across the year. Overall, Tesla’s automotive revenue grew by 10% year-on-year compared with the same period in 2016.
It’s thought that given the level of investment in the production of Model 3, Tesla will likely post more encouraging financial results for investors once production gains momentum.
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Tesla falls behind on Model 3 deliveries
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Cable guise doomed
Electric cars (including hybrids which have to be plugged into the mains) are destined to end up in a very expensive dustbin, leaving a lot of people out of pocket and a lot of companies in a dire financial position. Electric cars are going nowhere.
Tesla should never have built
Tesla should never have built cars after the Tesla Roadster. They would have been better off being a car technology development company like Bosch.
Some of the owner's problems on the forums regarding the Model S and Model X automatically are shocking. Drive by wire steering issues and lack of parts (for over six months) after an accident means I'd never consider one.
Owners don't think so
Go on the Telsa forums and for the most part owners love 'em. Go on the driver surveys like the Driver Power where the Tesla S came top, ahead of Lexus. The exact quote "Tesla Model S tops Driver Power 2016 with highest-ever satisfaction rating"
Sales
I must say I've seen a lot of Teslas on the road in the UK. There must be a lot of people either unconcerned about depreciation or on some soft lease deals. I suppose that while Mr Musk is still bringing in a fortune from his other business interests, he can afford to take the hit for a while longer. Whether his shareholders agree with that is another matter.