Electric car market leader Tesla When presenting its quarterly figures, warned of falling demand and problems with the introduction of its new Cybertruck model. Tesla boss Elon Musk (52) said he was worried that potential buyers would no longer be able to afford the cars because of the higher financing costs. “With economic uncertainty, people hesitate before buying a new car,” Musk said. Tesla’s price cuts weren’t enough either. Tesla will therefore only start production in a planned new factory in Mexico when there is more clarity about further economic developments.
Musk’s strategy of ever-increasing price cuts had a significant impact on the company’s profits in the third quarter. Operating profit shrank by 52 percent compared to the same quarter last year to just under 1.8 billion dollars (1.7 billion euros). The return on sales fell to 7.6 percent. From April to June the margin was 9.6 percent; In the third quarter of 2022, Tesla even reached 17.2 percent.
The company is once again below the earnings level of German competitors such as BMW and Mercedes or the mass manufacturer Stellantis. Tesla’s sales also rose by 9 percent to $23.35 billion. But analysts had forecast $24.1 billion. At 1.3 million, the number of cars sold was almost 50 percent higher than a year ago.
Also the US manufacturers General Motors and ford had previously expressed caution about the demand for electric cars. The general uncertainty about economic development could slow down demand growth. GM announced this week that it would begin production of two electric pickup trucks a year later than originally planned. Competitor Ford slowed production of the electric F-150 Lightning model.
Tesla wants to deliver its own electric pickup Cybertruck to customers from November 30th. However, after presenting the quarterly figures, Musk warned of possible difficulties in ramping up production. He wanted to curb expectations a little. Tesla could face “enormous challenges,” which applies just as much to production as it does to making the model “cash flow positive.”
250,000 Cybertrucks per year
“We dug our own grave with the Cybertruck,” said Musk, commenting on the manufacturer’s weaker numbers and attributed them in part to the start-up problems with the model. Tesla had stated the production capacity for the pickup truck as more than 125,000 vehicles per year. Musk now said that 250,000 Cybertrucks could be built annually by 2025. The model has already been ordered by more than a million customers.
Some analysts expressed skepticism about at least the short-term Cybertruck numbers. “I don’t expect Tesla to get anywhere near (125,000 cars),” said Morningstar’s Seth Goldstein. “It’s more about what’s possible once production has really ramped up.”
According to an evaluation by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM), Tesla remains the global market leader for electric cars. China’s largest electric car manufacturer BYD is in second place with over a million purely electric vehicles. Volkswagen sold 530,000 electric cars across all brands, making it number three.
Tesla boss Elon Musk has apparently not lost his optimism despite his warnings. Data analysts at Globaldata counted that Tesla advertised 41 percent more jobs in the third quarter than in the previous three months. The manufacturer offers the second most jobs, after the USA, in: Germany. Between July and September, Tesla was looking for around 250 new employees for the plant in Grünheide alone.