The American manufacturer of electric vehicles Tesla announced higher results on Wednesday, after sales boosted by price reductions practiced for several months.
As analysts expected, these price cuts eroded Elon Musk’s group’s profit margin, which fell to 18.2%, from 19.3% in the first quarter.
The billionaire had exposed his strategy in April: it is better to sell more even if the margins are temporarily lower.
“It’s better to deliver a lot of cars at a lower margin and reap that margin later as we refine” self-driving software, he explained.
+47% turnover
Deliveries increased to 466,140 vehicles during the quarter, from 254,695 a year earlier.
Billing stood at 24,920 million (+47%) and net profit jumped 20% to 2,700 million dollars.
“We are delighted to have achieved these results given the macroeconomic environment,” the group said in a statement.
“This is an incredible achievement by the Tesla team,” Elon Musk said during a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, saying that “over the long term, we believe the economy will drive volumes skyward.”
Especially with the arrival of new products such as his robot taxi, “a revolutionary design made in a revolutionary way”, he was enthusiastic.
It confirmed the target of producing 1.8 million vehicles in 2023 but, it warned, “production in the third quarter is going to be a bit lower due to plant closures for many upgrades.”
“Position of Strength”
“We have plenty of cash on hand to finance our product program, long-term plant capacity expansion plans and other expenses,” the automaker said.
Tesla built 479,700 vehicles in the second quarter, up from 258,580 in the same period of 2022 and 440,808 in the first quarter of this year.
For Wedbush analysts, Tesla is now “in a strong position” in the electric vehicle market thanks to “its aggressive pricing policy.” The group “is now preparing to further monetize this achievement,” they commented.
satisfactory margin
The group was satisfied with the level of its operating margin, which remained “healthy” at around 10% “despite price reductions in the first and second quarters.”
“This reflects our continued effort to reduce costs, the success of the production lines in Berlin and Texas and the good performance of our Energy and Utilities branches” in particular.
Regarding the Cybertruck electric van, whose first copy left the production line of the Tesla megafactory in Texas (southern United States) on Saturday, the group said this Wednesday that the start of large-scale production would take place, as scheduled for the end of the year.
The machine with a futuristic silhouette, covered with a kind of metal shell with rather unusual angular lines, was presented in November 2019.
Long wait around the Cybertruck
“He’s big on the outside, but he’s even bigger on the inside,” Elon Musk said Wednesday. “I can’t wait to start deliveries later this year.”
“The demand is crazy. It’s not a problem,” he said, forecasting deliveries “in large numbers next year.”
Two days after the vehicle’s big show, Tesla said it had received nearly 150,000 pre-orders. The group has not given any indication on this subject since then, nor on the sale price.
When it was launched, the company indicated that the Cybertruck – which can go from 0 to 100 km/h in less than three seconds, according to Tesla’s site – would be available in three models, $ 39,900 and 400 km of autonomy for the level. input, up to $ 69,900 and 800 km of autonomy announced for the top model.
It will find itself in competition with electric pickup truck Ford, which also announced a $10,000 drop in the asking price of its F-150 Lightning on Monday.
Source: BFM TV
