Tesla Motors’ goal of shaking up the automobile industry has hit a fresh speed bump as disappointing car production suggests a longer wait before it reaches profitability.
Tesla Motors’ goal of shaking up the automobile industry has hit a fresh speed bump as disappointing car production suggests a longer wait before it reaches profitability.
Already facing questions over a fatal crash involving its self-driving system and a controversial proposed merger with ailing solar power firm SolarCity, Tesla has now slashed its 2016 delivery targets after second-quarter output lagged behind expectations.
Tesla delivered just 14,370 vehicles in the second quarter, below the 17,000 originally forecast, according to figures released over the weekend.
As a result, Tesla trimmed its full-year delivery forecasts to 79,000 from the prior range of 80,000 to 90,000.
The revised targets further cloud the record of Tesla and its founder Elon Musk, who has vowed to remake America’s roads by mainstreaming the electric cars.
Earlier this year, Musk announced an ambitious goal of producing 500,000 electric cars a year by 2018, which would take in from being a niche producer of luxury sedans to a mainstream competitor in the auto industry. Tesla shares dropped 1.2 percent Tuesday to $213.98.
“While we are modestly disappointed by the number, we are not shocked,” said a note from Deutsche Bank. “This is not the first time Tesla has missed an aggressive target.”
Deutsche Bank had projected that Tesla would generate a modest profit in 2016. But it now sees another loss following the disappointing deliveries.
“We are not sure whether Tesla has overcome production challenges,” Deutsche said.
The weak figures come on the heels of news last week that US auto safety regulators opened a preliminary investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot self-driving technology after a fatal crash in Florida involving a Model S.
Preliminary reports indicated that the crash happened when a tractor-trailer made a left turn in front of the Tesla at an intersection. Tesla said neither the driver nor the self-drive system noticed the truck and the vehicle ran under the truck, killing the Tesla driver.
Some auto experts said the accident showed Tesla was deploying self-driving mechanisms before they are ready. “My concern is that this was an avoidable accident,” said Mary Cummings, who heads the Humans and Autonomy Laboratory at Duke University.
