Tesla Motors projects that its revenue will increase in the second half of 2012 as production and sales of the Tesla Model S are expected to outpace the automaker’s now-extinct Roadster. Though the carmaker lost money last year, CEO Elon Musk told reporters last week that his company is fully capitalized and ready to meet its production goals without raising any additional funds.
Late last week, Tesla announced that its fourth-quarter net loss widened to $81.5 million, compared to $51.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Still, the company’s annual revenue beat the street’s predictions. The automaker reported annual net revenue of $204.2 million in 2011, where analysts had projected $203.5 million. That’s nearly a 75-percent increase over Tesla’s reported annual revenue of $116.7 million in 2010.
Tesla attributes last year’s losses to nearly $200 million in capital expenditures, which were spent readying the carmaker’s Fremont, California production facility to build the Model S. Tesla now predicts that annual revenue for 2012 may soar to $600 million, with 90 percent of the money expected to come in the second half of the year, when the Model S goes on sale.
During a conference call, Tesla chief executive officer, Elon Musk, stated “The bulk of 2012 revenue is Model S-related.” Tesla aims to sell up to 5,000 Model S electric sedans by the end of 2012. But until Model S deliveries commence, Tesla’s main revenue source is supply deals with Toyota and Daimler.
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By Jeff Cobb
Toyota wants you to mark the date: March 6 is when it will reveal the FT-Bh Concept, a mini hybrid car that saves production expense with lower cost materials and helps save the environment with emissions that are 50-percent lower than other cars in its segment.
Shunning costlier materials like carbon fiber which competitors such as Audi and BMW have added to their mini cars, Toyota says it makes use of economical production methods to make small, cute and green also more affordable.
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By Jeff Cobb
Since receiving federally underwritten help through bankruptcy, and developing the extended-range electric Chevy Volt, GM has for the most part turned the other cheek to a cottage industry of critics, but that may be changing somewhat.
The company’s head of communications, Selim Bingol has launched a new blog which attempts to correct erroneous critical commentators GM has said are politically motivated.
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By Jeff Cobb
BMW’s plug-in hybrid i8 looks like it will feature innovative doors suitable for the avant-garde car, according to spy photos borrowed from our sister publication, AutoGuide.
The main difference looks like hinge placement, which allows the doors to open upwards and twist which should ensure they are fully out of the way upon entering and exiting the vehicle.
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By Jeff Cobb
With the first sale of his Russian Yo-Mobile hybrid car due in December this year, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov said he will invest in a new assembly line for his inexpensive “peoples’ cars.”
“The next Yo-mobile plant must be built in the Far East to develop local innovation production,” Prokhorov said at a press conference in Russia.
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By Jeff Cobb
Perhaps emboldened by the fact that its Cruze nameplate is Chevrolet’s global best seller, and hoping to create anticipation for a 2013 diesel variant co-developed in Europe for the U.S., GM is putting German automakers on notice.
“The market for diesel cars in the U.S. is small at present, but is expected to grow due to Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirements and expected increases in gas prices,” said Mike Omotoso, powertrain analyst at LMC Automotive. “So far, the German automakers haven’t had any diesel car competition in North America. GM could do well with it, particularly with younger buyers who don’t have the old prejudices against diesel.”
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By Jeff Cobb
Last week a blogger from Israel posted a video of the recently released 2012 Renault Fluence Z.E. electric car having its battery pack exchanged by a Better Place swap station now undergoing tests prior to the facilities’ launch this summer.
As followers of advanced-tech cars know, Better Place Founder and CEO Shai Agassi is advocating a way around limited electric range by making provision for vehicles to replace a discharged battery with a topped off one. The experience takes place in five minutes, roughly the time it might require to stop at a gasoline station.
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By Jeff Cobb
Reports swirling around Fisker Automotive are ranging the gamut from the company is possibly on its way to insolvency to its future is bright and concerns about whether it can renegotiate its U.S. Department of Energy loan balance are unfounded.
On the negative end of the spectrum, an analyst initially quoted by the Boston Globe – and since re-reported by a number of sources – has said Fisker and its battery supplier A123 Systems will be going down.
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By Bertel Schmitt
Auto blogging sites large and small are going gaga over Rinspeed’s announcement of a backpack. The Swiss tuner promises a rear extension for compact electric cars such as the smart fortwo EV. The extensions are modular. One is a motorized appendage that had been fueling the fantasy of EV enthusiasts for a while: If you want to go beyond the meager range of your EV, simply tow a trailer with a conventional engine. Voila, a docked range extender. Hence the name Dock+Go.
At the upcoming Geneva auto show, the Swiss trailer will be ready for inspection. It also can be used for other purposes, such as a ski transporter, a party pack, or for Pizza delivery. Latest when it comes to pizza delivery, a halfway decent auto writer should realize that not only are trailer being pulled, but also the legs of the press.You can deliver a bunch of pizza boxes on a bicycle, no need for a towed array of expensive technology.
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By Jeff Cobb
In the process of developing its new Fusion Hybrid and other plug-in vehicles, Ford said it recorded 461 hybrid patents including those for the powertrain enabling the Fusion to achieve 47 mpg.
Among its most talented inventors, Ford made special mention of Ming Kuang, who has helped Ford since 2000 to expand its portfolio of hybrid patents from just 10 patents when he began to 461 today.
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Yo-Auto Yo-Mobile.
GM says the 2012 Cruze diesel will look nearly the same as the gasoline version (LT gas model shown).
