Tesla: Model Y production is likely to pick up steam by the end of 2020
Elon Musk said in a statement to the quarterly figures that the Model Y could probably be produced in significant quantities by the end of 2020. The Model Y is an unofficial name for what is supposed to be an electric crossover.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, reports in the explanation of the quarterly figures that the manufacturer is busy collecting the parts and instruments needed for production. He expects production of the Model Y to start early next year, which will still be in very low volumes. The production system will then be gradually ramped up, which, according to Musk, always takes the necessary time. By the end of 2020 there should be volume production.
The yet-to-be-revealed Model Y will be based on the Model 3 platform: it shares three-quarters of the parts with the Model 3. Musk says he expects the Model Y to become much more popular compared to the Model 3. According to the CEO, this segment of mid-sized SUVs is the most popular in the world, leading Musk to believe that more Model Ys than Model 3s will eventually be produced. The Model Y will not be made at the Fremont factory alongside the S, X and 3, but will likely have its own production line at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada.
Musk also hinted that Tesla’s electric pickup truck may be unveiled in the summer of this year. According to the CEO, this vehicle will be “quite unique, unlike any other vehicle.” Last year, Musk talked about a futuristic, Blade Runner and cyberpunk-esque look.
For some time, the production of the Model 3 was a concern, but since the end of 2018 the problems have largely disappeared. In 2018, a total of 140,000 units of the Model 3 were sold and the model was by far the best-selling premium vehicle in the US. The highest volume per week was achieved in December, although the company does not report any numbers. According to Tesla, a stable production number of 7,000 Model 3s per week will be reached by the end of this year. The first models of the Model 3 will be in the hands of European customers in March.
The quarterly figures show that Tesla made a profit of $139.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. That is significantly better than the result from the fourth quarter of 2017, when there was a loss of $ 675 million. The current profit figure is lower than the $311.5 million that the company could describe as profit in the third quarter of last year. For the whole of 2018, Tesla still suffered a loss of $976 million, although the loss in 2017 was much larger at $1.96 billion. Revenue in the quarter amounted to $7.23 billion, compared to $3.29 billion in the same period a year earlier. Full-year 2018 revenue was $21.5 billion; in 2017 that was $11.8 billion.