The parenthesis is closed, but challenges still remain for Tesla. The american manufacturer of electric cars, which dropped on Friday, August 24, with its proposed withdrawal of the rating, remains engaged in a race against the clock to increase the pace of production of the Model 3, its saloon general public. This is a critical step to achieve profitability, promised as early as this quarter to Wall Street investors.
By opting for an output of the financial markets, Elon Musk, boss of Tesla, hoped to be able to focus on its long-term vision, without worrying about the pressures and obligations that apply to listed companies. The operation was, however, very difficult to finance.
In the inability to take on more debt, the company would have had to find investors willing to take an important participation and to which it would have had to be accountable. “What was at best an ad premature has generated three weeks of distraction during one of the quarters the most important in the history of Tesla,” says Jed Dorsheimer, an analyst at broker Canaccord.
The next few months will be crucial for Tesla, which has yet to demonstrate the viability of its ambitious development strategy. At the end of June, the manufacturer has taken a first important milestone, producing 5 000 Model 3 in a week. A goal that he had pushed back on several occasions. Analysts are questioning its ability to maintain this production rate, or even double by the end of the year, as promised by Mr. Musk.
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To reach the bar of 5, 000 units weekly, Tesla has erected a huge tent, as big as two football fields, on the parking lot of its plant in Fremont (California), in which was installed a third assembly line. This structure symbolizes the failings of the production model.
If the company has completed…
