July 1, 2019 at 10:32Overview: What will be the future of Tesla, and what factors will affect it
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According to media reports, Tesla is close to breaking the record for the number of cars delivered to customers in the second quarter of this year. According to company director Ilon Mask, Tesla can supply from 90 to 100 thousand electric vehicles, while in the first quarter this number was only 63 thousand.
Why are these numbers important for the future of the company, and what other factors influence it? We understand our new material.
The Importance of Machine Supply Figures
“There is a lot of speculation around the figures for our shipments in the second quarter,” Musk said in a letter to Tesla employees. - In reality, we are on the way
to setting a record for all time for ourselves. It will not be easy, but if we give everything in full, we can do it! ”
During 2019, Tesla shares fell in price by 34%. One of the main reasons for the fall is doubts about the level of demand for the company's electric vehicles. One of its main tasks is to convince investors of the groundlessness of such suspicions, and an increase in the number of shipments of electric vehicles plays an important role here.
Tesla's previous record was 90,700 per quarter - it was achieved in the last three months of 2018. According to Elon Musk, the company has already produced the required number of electric vehicles, but the problem is that not all of them are in the most convenient locations for delivery to customers.
Therefore, the main problem of the company right now is logistics. If Tesla is unable to deliver the required number of electric vehicles by the end of the quarter, then it will not be possible to set a record.
At the same time, financial analysts are already skeptical about the prospects for the growth of Tesla shares. They reduced the target value of the shares from $ 342.84 at the beginning of the year to $ 269.39. Sixteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg recommendedsell Tesla stocks; 8 offered to hold them for some time, and 12 experts recommended buying.
The main argument of the opponents of the stock growth version - the demand for electric cars was below expectations. Record shipments can prove that they rushed to conclusions.
What else affects the future of Tesla
During 2018, the number of Tesla electric vehicles on world roads doubled. However, electric cars still make up only about 1% of all cars, and 60% of them are in China. That is why Tesla plans to build a battery factory in Shanghai. Another plant is planned to be built in Europe - the exact location has not yet been announced.
At a recent conference call with company shareholders, Elon Musk announced the need to reduce battery costs. In addition, the entrepreneur would like to reduce the required charging time and increase the distance that the electric car is able to pass without recharging. According to him, this range will soon increase to 644 kilometers.
Tesla's current Gigafactory Nevada battery partner is Panasonic. However, according toMarket Watch, the company has not yet been able to meet the requirements of the Mask to improve battery performance. This is too complicated an engineering task.
As a result, a partner for Gigafactory in Shanghai and Europe has not yet been selected. Whether Tesla manages to reduce the cost of batteries by improving their performance will also have a major impact on the future of the company.
Conclusion
Not all analysts believe that the future of Tesla is determined by technical parameters, such as the number of machines shipped to customers. This is how Matthew DeBord from Business Insider writes in his column that it can be much more important for a company to determine its development vector: will it become an automaker for the mass market or will it work in the luxury segment.
For comparison, in 2018, BMW sold about 311 thousand cars in the United States. The company's lineup includes 18 cars and trucks. Tesla managed to sell 200 thousand electric vehicles with a line of just three models. That is, with comparable sales, the Tesla line is six times smaller.
All this suggests that Tesla may not need to chase the number of shipments at any cost, but rather focus on maximizing profit from each sale, the analyst said. Being a luxury segment company is better than a manufacturer for a mass market that can barely make ends meet.