Tesla thinks big. At the end of a first quarter of 2022 marked by record revenues and car deliveries, its CEO, Elon Musk, is betting: “it seems likely that we will be able to produce more than 1.5 million cars this year. “.
However, this will not be easy to maintain. If the results obtained by Tesla are impressive, they have been torn out in pain, even though the company is already facing major challenges that are not about to disappear in the coming months: shortage chips, disrupted supply chains, international instability and the resurgence of Covid-19 in key markets.
“Despite numerous chip shortages, numerous logistical challenges and an overall difficult quarter, we remain confident in the growth of our vehicle production compared to last year”, wants to believe Elon Musk, according to whom he is “reasonable” to count on “a 60% increase [de la production de véhicules] compared to last year “.
Supply chains affected…
“The rate of growth will depend on the capacity of our equipment, operational efficiency and the capacity and stability of the supply chain”, however admitted the leader during the publication of the results of Tesla, acknowledging that “The supply chain has become the main limiting factor, and this will continue until the end of 2022”.
The total turnover of the American manufacturer amounted to 18.76 billion dollars in the first quarter of the current financial year, an increase of 81% compared to the previous year. At the same time, Tesla’s first-quarter operating margin soared to 19%, which puts the company on the level of supercar manufacturers, even though Elon Musk’s company “only” sells sedans and SUVs.
Still, Tesla is not untouchable. The company is expected to suffer like its competitors from further disruptions in its supply chains, relating to transport, labor and other manufacturing difficulties related in particular to the resurgence of Covid-19.
…but not sunk, says Elon Musk
While the Tesla factory in Shanghai was running at full speed in the first quarter, the current epidemic peak has led the Chinese authorities to decree a temporary closure of the car manufacturer’s factory. Race result: Tesla admits to losing about a month of build volume and confirms that production at this strategic factory has recently restarted, but in a limited way.
Not enough to stop the imperturbable Elon Musk, never stingy with ambitious (but not always realistic) projects to shape the future of his company. After having promised the generalization of robot-taxis on the roads by 2020, here it is which now aspires to reach the volume production of these vehicles in 2024. After having promised to put them in circulation by 2020, the latter has indicated this Wednesday “to aspire to reach the mass production of [ces robots] in 2024”, on the occasion of the publication of the results of Tesla.
For the entrepreneur, the rise of the robot taxi should ensure the prosperity of Tesla. “It’s really going to be a massive engine of growth for Tesla,” he said. The public should not bite their fingers either, assures Elon Musk, for whom the robot-taxi should “provide consumers with the cost per kilometer of transport by far the lowest they have ever known”. It now remains for the latter to move from promises to reality.