Few companies go ten years without turning a profit, and manage to stay alive. Tesla Motors has though, and it seems like CEO Elon Musk’s predictions that the company will turn a profit next year might actually come true. Hot on the heels of the Tesla Model S release, Musk and crew unveiled the Tesla Model X crossover.
And just as I predicted, the soccer mom’s flocked to the falcon-wing doors and seven-passenger seating. Tesla says that between the unveiling last Thursday and Valentines Day this past Tuesday, they took 500 reservations worth a cool $40 million.
This is serious cash we’re talking about too; at least $5,000 for a standard Model X, and up to $40,000 to reserve one of the few Signature models that will likely be the first ones to roll off the assembly line. All this for a car that nobody outside of a few employees and reporters have even seen in person. Then again, the Tesla Model S also got over 500 reservations in its first week, but something tells me the Model X crossover will be Tesla’s bread-and-butter.
And that wasn’t the only good news this week, as Tesla announced another deal with Daimler, parent company of Mercedes. Tesla will provide the old-school Mercedes brand with a new-school electric powertrain for an upcoming luxury roadster. Details are scant, but the deal is sure to put a lot more money in Tesla’s pockets.
Things are looking up for Tesla; the company expects to deliver its first Model S sedan this summer, and 5,000 of them by the end of the year. There are just 330 Tesla Roadsters left, and they expect to sell the last of them by the end of the year, mostly in Europe and Asia.
2014 is a long was away though, and I’m not sure the Model X will survive in its current form. People are fickle, especially rich people. Will the falcon-wing doors survive?
Source: Gas2.0
