During the business's fourth-quarter results call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that the company will not produce any new models this year and is not currently building a $25,000 car. He stated in his introductory remarks that the ongoing chip shortage would make it hard to issue new model vehicles without reducing total vehicle deliveries.
Musk said, “If we had introduced say a new car last year, we would — total vehicle output would have been the same because of the constraints — the chips’ constraints particularly. So, we will not be introducing new vehicle levels this year. It would not make any sense.”
Without Tesla selling their Cybertruck electric pickup truck this year, the EV leader risks losing pace to Ford, which plans to release the fully electric F-150 Lighting pickup truck in the first part of 2019. Ford has recently announced intentions to treble production of its Mustang Mach-E, a Tesla Model 3 and Model Y competitor, with 200,000 cars expected per year by 2023.
Cybertruck Unveiling 2019
The GMC Hummer EV, another possible contender, will be available to customers in December 2021. The fully electric version of the truck from General Motors is the first to use the company's Ultium platform, motors, and batteries, which the company developed in-house and hopes to use as the foundation for future electric vehicles.
Later, in answer to a query regarding a lower-cost Tesla for regular people, Musk stated that such a project is not currently in the works.
“We’re not currently working on the $25,000 car. At some point we will. We have enough on our plate right now. Too much on our plate, frankly.”
Musk has stated that a Tesla with a price tag of $25,000 is achievable. He predicted that Tesla would take three years to develop in 2018, but he didn't say when that would happen. In 2020, at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting, Musk said that the business would release such a vehicle within the next three years.
Despite these obstacles, Musk stated that Tesla has been producing a large number of cars in Austin and Berlin since late 2021. “In Texas, we’re building Model Ys with the structural battery pack and the 4680 cells. We will start delivering after final certification of the vehicle which should be fairly soon.”
Tesla's first facility in the United States, in Fremont, California, set a new production record in 2021, according to the firm. The business wants to increase the facility's capacity beyond 600,000 automobiles each year.
Tesla reported in its shareholder deck that its experimental driver assistance systems testing programme, branded FSD Beta, had grown to about 60,000 customers in the United States.
Tesla's major focus remains on full self-driving (FSD) software. Software-related earnings is expected to boost total profitability over time, according to the company.
Revenue Results
Tesla’s fourth-quarter numbers that were better than expected. After the automaker warned that supply chain concerns could persist through 2022, shares plummeted as much as 5% in extended trading on Wednesday, but eventually recovered to slightly positive territory.
Here’s how the company performed:
- Earnings (adjusted): $2.52 per share, vs. $2.36 per share expected by analysts.
- Revenue: $17.72 billion, vs. $16.57 billion expected by analysts.
The third quarter, revenue increased by 65 percent year over year, with automotive revenue increasing by 71 percent to $15.97 billion.
Revenue from energy generation and storage was $688 million, down 8% from the previous quarter and the lowest since the first quarter of 2021.
Tesla's nett income increased by 760 percent to $2.32 billion, with a gross margin of 27.4 percent, up from 26.6 percent the prior quarter.
