Quote:
Originally Posted by samwichse
I agree with everything you said in your post... except this. The "losing money on every car they sell" line gets bandied around all the time, but I find it disingenuous.
If Tesla stopped building up and out today, they would be making a profit tomorrow.
Their actual gross margin on each car is 22.8%. Compared with 15.4% for Ford and 12% for GM.
Is the company losing money overall? Yes. Is it because making electric cars is a losing proposition? No. It's a business choice looking to the future (for once). I like companies that actually try and plan for more than the quarter's profits and I get irked when I see people lambasting them for not doing the short term, maximize profits crap.
|
That number was shared by Bob Lutz,in his 'Go Lutz Yourself',which appears at the back of ROAD & TRACK Magazine.As a former head of GM,Mr. Lutz would be in a position to understand the viability of manufacturers.
Mr.Lutz refers to EVs a 'compliance cars',which all carmakers sell at a loss,so they may sell high-profit gas-guzzlers,from which the horrific profits help underwrite the profitability of the corporations.
Many economy cars of the 1980s were all sold at a loss (dumped),in order to allow higher CAFE averages of such magnitude that they could continue to sell their golden gooses.
Since Tesla has only EVs to sell,and soon will have to compete with equal-range EVs,selling at lower prices from horizontally-integrated manufacturers,their market for carbon trading credits will dry up soon.And they don't have cheap-to-produce SUVs like Denali,Expedition,Land Rover,etc.,which sell at high prices to bolster corporate profits.
I'm not privy to Elon Musk's ledger,but industry people consider Tesla's long-term viability as quite dubious.
And it doesn't make me happy to say it.