Yahoo Autos Tesla Lost a Lot of Money in Q2 2019 Even as Model 3 Sales Took Off
While Tesla posted two consecutive quarterly profits last year, it's back to business as usual for Tesla in 2019 as it recorded a $408 million loss for Q2.
Retooling for the Model Y crossover and building new plants in China and Europe are major drains on Tesla's finances.
An Enhanced Summon feature is currently available to a select group of Tesla owners under the company's "early access" program.
Tesla reported a $408 million loss for the second quarter of 2019. Investors have become less patient with the electric automaker's results than in years past when Tesla was an upstart giant-killer in the industry, and the company's shares were down 15 percent on Thursday morning.
The loss is despite Tesla raking in more than $6.3 billion between April and June and reporting a rather staggering 19-percent profit margin on each car sold. Its plans to establish a new assembly plant in Shanghai by the year's end, launch the Model Y crossover in 2020, add a European battery plant—not to mention all the bills that accompany an automaker trying to sell hundreds of thousands of cars a year—have put a damper on profits.
Tesla did reach a quarterly sales record of 95,356 cars, of which the Model 3 comprised 81 percent of the total. The company claims that the Model 3 was the best-selling premium car in the U.S., but because Tesla refuses to break out specific sales numbers like other automakers, that claim can only be partially verified by Automotive News estimates for year-to-date sales through June. AN estimates that Tesla sold 43,000 Model 3s in the U.S. during that time. Given that BMW sold 21,158 3-series and Mercedes-Benz sold 27,337 C-class models through June, Tesla's claim that the Model 3 outsold "all of its gas-powered equivalents combined" is pure bunk to the fifth degree.
The company says it is on track to produce 10,000 Model 3 sedans a week up from its current level of 7000. The less popular Model S and Model X now have 18 days' worth of selling inventory, up from zero during the cars' first few years. Base prices for those models have recently dropped despite the fact that these models now deliver improved driving range and more equipment for the money.
Tesla now reports that a total of 1600 Supercharger stations are open across the world (for reference, there are 168,000 retail gas stations in the U.S.). American drivers will appreciate the forthcoming V3 supercharger that the company says will drop average charging times down to 15 minutes, although only the newest Model S and Model X vehicles built in the last quarter can accept that station's 200-kilowatt input.
Tesla also disclosed that it is running a new version of Autopilot in "shadow mode" in which it records how Tesla owners are approaching stop signs and red lights. Soon, as if there were nothing more to fear from overzealous Tesla drivers not paying attention, the company says the cars will do that themselves.
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