[ad_1]
Last month, he said on Twitter that the “fear of running out” of parts was compelling automakers to order more components than they needed, likening it to the hoarding of toilet paper by many Americans in the early months of the pandemic last year.
The earnings report comes as Tesla is trying to lay the ground work for a new phase of growth. It is building new factories in Austin, Texas, and near Berlin, and is getting ready to sell the Cybertruck, an angular pickup truck aimed at luxury car buyers. It is also trying to finish developing a long-delayed semi truck. Mr. Musk had once forecast it would be in production by 2019.
In its statement, Tesla said it expected to start making the Model Y, its most popular vehicle, in Austin and Berlin by the end of the year, but it said production of the semi truck would be delayed until 2022 because of limited supply of batteries. It said the Cybertruck would go into production in Austin after the Model Y but did not say when that would happen.
Tesla said its cash holdings of $16 billion were enough to fund its plans. The company said it still believed that sales would grow 50 percent a year on average for the next several years.
The company is also contending with increasing competition from established and start-up automakers that are introducing electric cars. This year Ford started selling the Mustang Mach E, an electric sport utility vehicle that has sold well and taken market share from Tesla. Volkswagen has starting selling an ID.4, another S.U.V. Rivian, a start-up that has drawn billions of dollars in backing from Ford, Amazon and other investors, is expected to start delivering an electric pickup and S.U.V. in September.
On Monday, another start-up, Lucid Motors, became a publicly traded company by completing a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Its stock closed up about 6 percent on Monday.
Lucid is headed by a former Tesla engineer, Peter Rawlinson. The company is taking a similar approach to Tesla by first selling a pricey luxury sedan, and following up with more affordable models. Mr. Rawlinson has said Lucid has made technological advances that will allow its car, the Lucid Air, to travel about 500 miles on a full charge, about 100 miles more than the Tesla Model S.
[ad_2]
Source link
