Category: Tesla

Tesla Motors Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, who’s preparing to begin deliveries of the Model S electric vehicle in China, forecast the company will be making cars in the country in the next three to four years.

The company is also building a “big” network of battery-charging stations in China, including superchargers in Beijing and Shanghai, the billionaire CEO said at a packed Geekpark Conference in the nation’s capital yesterday. Musk is scheduled to host an event tomorrow to mark the beginning of Model S deliveries in the country.

“At some point in the next three or four years we’ll be establishing local manufacturing in China,” Musk said. “China is very important to the future of Tesla. We’re going to make a big investment in China in terms of charging infrastructure.”

Local production in the world’s biggest auto market would allow Tesla to sell cars at cheaper prices by avoiding China’s 25 percent import tariff. While entering the country presents an opportunity for Tesla to sell as many vehicles there as in the U.S. by as soon as next year, Musk, 42, will attempt to accomplish what the Chinese government has struggled to do: get people to buy electric cars.

“I think they can sell quite a few here in the market,” said Finbarr O’Neill, president of J.D. Power & Associates. “There’s a lot of talk about Tesla but, you know, their numbers are not huge. Mr. Musk has been successful in many fields. I wish him luck, but there’s a limit to every market.”

Source: Bloomberg

During the last week in March, 597 Tesla Model S were registered in Norway, giving it a market share of 12.9 percent. Number two on the list was the Volkswagen Golf with 169 vehicles.

For the entire month of March there were 1493 Model S registered which is an all time high for any car model in Norway in a single month, beating a previous record 1454 Ford Sierra in May 1986.

So far this year 2056 Tesla Model S were registered, surpassing the 1983 sold all of last year.

To put this figure into perspective, the Model S has out sold Ford's entire model range (1825) so far this year.

Tesla has a market share of 5.6 percent in 2014 and 10.8 percent in March. The U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer is the nation's sixth most registered mark in 2014!

Tesla today announced that is has earned $46 million in the 2013 4th quarter, and sold 6,892 vehicles. In total, Tesla has sold 22,477 vehicles and has in roughly 2.5 billion in non-GAAP sales. $TSLA stock quickly jumped to a record high of $217 with the announcement that a new assembly line will be arriving. The company plans to have the new assembly line pump out 1,000 vehicles per week by 3rd quarter.

Tesla sales in China have really taken off, and CEO Elon Musk mentioned the company is having trouble meeting demand, with orders being pushed to spring.

Meanwhile, the CEO says demand for Model X reserverations is still high.

Source: Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors expects its China sales to contribute one third of global sales growth this year, a senior executive said, adding that a trademark issue stalling full-entry into China had been resolved.

Veronica Wu, vice president of Tesla's China operations, said the Palo Alto, California-based company planned to open stores in 10-12 Chinese cities by the end of 2014, including its flagship store in Beijing that opened late last year.

Wu, the 43-year-old executive who jumped ship to Tesla from Apple's China unit at the end of last year, said Tesla China had a "very aggressive growth objective".

She said the unit was aiming to contribute "30 to 35 percent" of Tesla's overall global sales growth targeted for 2014.

Wu said the company aimed to double overall total sales this year. She put global sales at 23,000 to 24,000 last year. "I have my work cut out for me," Wu said in an interview. "But I am pretty confident."

Wu discussed Tesla's plans for its Chinese sales and marketing operations at Tesla's flagship store inside an upscale shopping mall in Beijing a day after announcing its pricing strategy.

Tesla said on Thursday that a version of the Tesla Model S, a sleek all-electric battery car which sells for $81,070 in the United States, would retail for 734,000 yuan ($121,300) in China after shipping costs and import duty and other taxes. The company was referring to a Model S with an 85 kilowatt-hour battery pack.

The Beijing-born executive, who worked for Apple's China unit in Beijing from 2006 until she joined Tesla in December, said that given the Tesla car's "quality," the Model S offered "great value".

Wu applauded Beijing's support for electric and plug-in electric hybrid cars.

She said Tesla had also resolved a trademark issue that had long prevented the company from using "Te Si La" - the Chinese name best known among Chinese consumers, which Tesla wanted to use in China.

"We went to court and we won," she said. "The court has given use right to use the name, which is why you see the Chinese name in our store now."

The name had been registered by a local businessman who had refused to give up the trademark. The U.S. company had started offering its popular Model S sedans in China, but with no Chinese language name.

Wu said Tesla had no plans to start local production of its cars in China, at least for the time being.

"Right now we are not considering (that) as yet," the Tesla China chief said.

"The most important task right now, now that we have announced our pricing strategy, is to focus on getting the right car and making sure we have the right service network, and making sure the Chinese customer is happy," she said. "Happy customers are the best advocate of your product, right?"

Tesla Motors have confirmed the company will return to Australia by June to launch the RHD Model S and its own network of Apple-style stores.

Having wound back its Australian operations following the end of its Roadster the US brand will begin deliveries of the Model S in the second quarter of 2014.

Speaking at the 2014 Detroit motor show, a spokesperson for the automaker said orders had already been taken.

They also confirmed plans are underway to establish a network of Tesla-owned stores in Australia, rather than traditional car dealerships. The Tesla store concept has been developed by the same man behind the Apple Store, George Blankenship.

The stores are usually based in shopping districts rather than traditional automotive areas and are owned by Tesla rather than being franchised to dealers.

The company’s next car, the Model X SUV, won’t arrive in Australia until 2015 at the earliest. Tesla declined to comment on price but it is expected the Model S may be priced around AUD$200,000.

Tesla Motors said Tuesday it sold 6,900 Model S electric cars in the last three months of 2013 — 20 percent above the previous forecast.

On news that the company delivered 6,900 Model S cars in the fourth quarter, Tesla’s shares spiked 15.74 % in regular trading, and another 3.56 % in after-hours trading.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla had forecast just under 6,000 Model S sales in the fourth quarter. Tesla delivered about 22,400 Model S vehicles for all of 2013.

Diarmuid O'Connell, vice president of development for Tesla, said demand remains strong for the vehicle, but the company continues to wage battles with franchised auto dealers in different states. Tesla sells its vehicles directly to consumers, not using franchised dealers, which has drawn attacks from many of the dealer groups around the country.

Mr. O'Connell said Tesla is now fighting new political battles in Ohio and New Jersey, and expects a battle in Georgia. Last year, Tesla waged fights in Texas, Virginia, North Carolina and New York.

"We have had some success when we have been able to shed some light on the issue," he said. "But dealers in some states have not changed their point of view" on Tesla's sales system.

Tesla said it is still on target to deliver the first Model X sport-utility vehicle by the end of the year, but the company didn't give any other updates on the vehicle. Currently, the Model S is its only model.

Tesla’s Model S is the top-selling all-electric car in Canada.

Consumer research by IHS shows that within its release year, the Model S captured a staggering 20% of the electric vehicle market share. Over the course of the next year (2013), it more than doubled to 43%, outselling all other OEMs. It is important to note that with such tremendous gains, Tesla did not necessarily conquest customers from other electric vehicle OEMs, but instead, brought new customers from outside the electric vehicle market to grow the current EV customer base.

Current EV competition includes the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi Imiev, Smart Fortwo, Ford focus EV, Toyota Rav4 EV and the Chevrolet Spark. This new option has helped the overall electric vehicle market volume more than double from 2012 to 2013 showing signs of continual rapid growth with Tesla leading the way. In short, Tesla's Model S has helped to boost the electric vehicle market in a big way. Perhaps now with strong customer loyalty, Tesla Motors can begin conquesting existing electric vehicle customers from other OEMs through the release of a family of Tesla vehicles.