In addition, the company moved up its goal to produce 500,000 cars to 2018, two years earlier than it had previously predicted, and said it would bring Model 3 products to market sooner, by July of next year.
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Not only is that multiple times what other model cars Tesla has produced in 2015, the company is also now talking about one million motors of the new Model 3 by 2020.
Despite recent capacity concerns, Tesla said it is “on track” for production and delivery of its Model 3 mass-market vehicle in late 2017.
According to Musk, Tesla is looking to manufacture 500,000 electric cars per year by 2018, which is two years sooner compared to the previous target of 2020. The company continues to reassure owners that some quality issues were limited to Signature / Founder Series Model X and early-VIN vehicles, and any faulty parts from suppliers have been re-engineered.
The BBC reported that “capital expenditure – money spent to grow the company – would probably increase by 50%”.
So assuming Tesla has about 400,000 orders for the Model 3 already, which is what Musk has hinted, then Musk’s timeline for delivery makes sense. The company acknowledged the shipment of the Model X was insufficient to meet demand.
Tesla still anticipates shipping 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles in 2016, despite the fact that it missed its Q1 shipping guidance, shipping 14,820 vehicles in Q1, over 1,000 vehicles short its 16,000-vehicle projection.
Of the second quarter, Tesla expects to produce almost 20,000 vehicles, which represent a sequential rise of around 30% and is expected to deliver as many vehicles as they can in 2Q and the rest to be delivered in 3Q. “We need to be the world’s best in manufacturing”.
The company said it was on schedule with the construction of its “Gigafactory” battery production plant in Nevada, with the first batteries to roll out by the end of the year.
The automaker’s non-GAAP loss in the quarter ended March 31 was $75.3 million, or 57 cents a share. Chief executive Elon Musk said Reichow and his team deserved credit for “building an all-new manufacturing organisation from the ground up” and making the Model S sedan and Model X a reality.
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He stressed that the Model X – with its gull-wing doors and free-standing rear seats – is much more complicated than the Model 3, so industry watchers shouldn’t assume the company will have similar production problems.
