Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Elon Musk Blasts Car Dealers For Hurting Industry, Wants Tesla To Sell Direct (BusinessInsider)
Elon Musk, the chief executive of electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), criticised the traditional way of selling cars in the United States and indicated the model would hamper the 10-year-old U.S. automaker’s growth prospects. Tesla is pushing to sell its Model S electric sedan directly to consumers rather than relying on a network of independent dealers. These efforts have met stiff resistance from dealer groups around the country. “The auto dealers association is definitely creating some problems for us, making it harder to get things done,” Musk said during Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s annual meeting on Tuesday.
Musk Says Tesla Gross Margin Will Approach Porsche’s ‘Over Time’ (BusinessWeek)
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), which has almost tripled in market value this year, can make its electric cars efficiently enough to achieve a gross profit margin approaching Porsche AG’s, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said. Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California, has set a goal of attaining a 25 percent gross margin this year, Musk told investors yesterday at the company’s annual meeting. Capital expenditures to expand Model S production and begin assembling the electric Model X sport-utility vehicle next year will hold back Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s profitability, compared with that of Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche, he said.
Tesla-backed bills in Texas fail to make it to vote (BusinessSpectator)
A pair of bills that would have allowed electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) to sell vehicles directly to consumers in Texas failed to make it to a vote in the state legislature before its regular session ended on May 27. The Texas legislature’s regular general session resumes in January 2015. Texas, like most US states, does not allow manufacturers to sell new cars directly to consumers. Chief Executive Elon Musk has said that traditional car dealers cannot effectively sell electric cars because they derive most of their revenue from selling and servicing gas-powered cars.
It Has Been Ruled – Tesla Won’t Sell Its Own Cars in Texas (Carscoops)
After a lengthy battle between Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and the dealers’ association from the great state of Texas, it would appear that the Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of the all-electric Model S sedan will not be getting its way, so sales directly to customers, a move which would have bypassed the established dealer network won’t become a reality. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) can currently legally sell cars at 37 locations in the US, in states including California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Massachusetts.
Fuel cell expert says Tesla is promising more than it can deliver (LATimes)
Just three days after Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk unveiled plans to greatly accelerate the rollout of his company’s coast-to-coast fast charger network, an expert in a competing technology was saying wait a minute, not so fast. Paul F. Mutolo, director of external partnerships at the Energy Materials Center at Cornell University, said that he didn’t think that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s fast charge claims, or its batteries, would hold up under scrutiny. Mutolo said it was encouraging to see Musk going after the alternative-fuel infrastructure problem “in a meaningful way.”
