Tesla’s Model S will hit China this year.
Image: Tesla
Tesla Motors Inc. posted fourth-quarter results that beat analyst estimates, and capped the biggest year yet for the youngest publicly traded US automaker. Tesla states plans for further growth this year by raising Model S sedan production 56 percent. Shares rose up to 11 percent after Tesla announced yesterday that Model S deliveries will grow to 35,000 as sales being in China.
While Tesla’s electric Model S, priced from $71,000, won accolades from Consumer Reports and posted higher-than-expected sales, the company is dealing with setbacks that include a U.S. safety review of the car’s battery pack and a delay in Model X sport-utility vehicle sales. However, new partnerships like that of Tesla and SolarCity, have garnered the electric car maker even more applause for working to green businesses as well as vehicles.
“Tesla continues to improve in the key metrics used to measure a young automaker,” said Karl Brauer, an analyst at industry researcher Kelley Blue Book. “The potential for increased demand in foreign markets should keep things moving in the right direction, but Tesla ultimately remains constrained by limited production capacity and a pricing structure that’s out of reach for 90-plus percent of the market.”
The shares jumped 8.5 percent to $210.10 at 10:23 a.m. in New York, after trading as high as $215.21. The stock closed above $200 for the first time this week. The carmaker, led by Elon Musk and touted by celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, had a market value of $23.7 billion at the close yesterday, more than one third of General Motors’ $57 billion.