Despite high investments and high burdens, the group is making high profits – an alarm signal for German car companies.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Dusseldorf Yes, we’ve read that many times: Tesla is the leader in electric mobility, Tesla is becoming a threat to German car manufacturers, Tesla is building the fastest factory, Tesla, Tesla, Tesla. CEO Musk in particular has mastered the game with media attention.
And in the end you’re amazed. The figures recently published by the electric car manufacturer are so good and so surprising that they vividly show the danger for BMW, Mercedes or Volkswagen.
18.8 billion dollars in sales not only exceed the analysts’ estimates, and by more than a billion dollars. Revenue soared 80 percent over the previous year. Profits increase more than sevenfold to $3.3 billion. In purely mathematical terms, Tesla earned $36 million a day in the first three months of the year.
Tesla is highly profitable. Despite massive investments in two new plants, despite production losses due to the lockdown at the Shanghai site and while suppliers increased their prices by up to 30 percent, as Elon Musk said.
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The Tesla boss’s goal: to grow by 50 percent in each of the coming years. An almost unbelievable announcement for a company that this year will be at the level of the globally established VW premium subsidiary Audi, both in terms of sales and the number of vehicles sold.
Software is also important for production
An analysis of the success is of great importance for the German manufacturers. You have to react to Tesla much harder, more directly and more decisively than before. Tesla is way ahead when it comes to digitizing the vehicle. Already in the Model S, it coded an operating system from a single source. Among other things, the operating system enables Tesla to continuously update the vehicle wirelessly.
That was eight years ago, the Germans are aiming for the year 2025 for this step. The problems and delays with VW’s Golfs or ID.3 show how far away one is from cleanly set up and integrated software. An expensive mistake: According to calculations by industry consultancy Berylls, a lost week costs up to 101 million euros, at least for premium vehicles.
Of course, there is more to a good car than just software. But Tesla is also ahead in terms of quality, range and driving characteristics. In the feedback process with optimal digitization, Tesla can continuously improve its product and production. And on top of that, it produces faster in its plants.
That explains the huge demand, the amazing growth – and the threat to Germany’s most important industry.
More: Tesla increases profit by almost 660 percent – but the Shanghai lockdown is a burden