US-based electric car maker Tesla Motors has posted its first ever quarterly profit in the first quarter as it also said it exceeded its target for deliveries.
The upbeat news from Tesla – a relatively established EV firm, around for ten years now – comes amid mixed experiences elsewhere in the electric car sector, with start-ups Coda and Fisker both recently filing for Chapter 11.
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Tesla said it that it generated a profit of US$15m in the first quarter and that it “consistently produced 400 or more Model S vehicles per week, for a total of over 5,000 during the quarter”.
It sold some 4,900 vehicles in the quarter, exceeding its initial Q1 guidance of 4,500.
Total revenues for Q1 rose 83% from Q4 to US$562m, a new record for Tesla. In addition to record Model S deliveries in Q1, Tesla said it continued to supply full electric powertrains and battery packs at a steady pace to Toyota for its RAV4 EV program. In addition, it also “completed various deliverables under the Mercedes Benz B-Class EV program”.
Tesla said it expects to build about 5,000 Model S vehicles in Q2, with some cars “in transit to Europe for start of deliveries in Q3”. As a result, it expects to deliver slightly over 4,500 vehicles during Q2, all in North America, slightly under its earlier expectation.
However, for the year of 2013, it expects to exceed its prior target of 20,000 worldwide deliveries and raised its guidance to “about 21,000 deliveries”. Eventually, global demand for its Model S electric car may surpass 30,000 vehicles a year, with 15,000 in North America alone, it said.
Tesla also said it is “pleased with the strong global demand for Model S and is currently receiving orders at a rate greater than 20,000 per year worldwide” with considerable upside potential in Europe and Asia, where it is yet to start customer deliveries.
See also: US: Coda bankruptcy filing raises uncomfortable questions
