Tesla posted record profits, but new items are delayed
In early January, Tesla announced that it had sold a record 936,000 electric vehicles in 2021, up from 500,000 the previous year – an 87% increase! The Model 3/Model Y family had 911,000 vehicles, while the Model S and X sold a total of 24,980 units. Now the economic results are published, which are also completely positive.
The company's total revenue in 2021 was $53.8 billion (71% more than the previous year), of which $47.2 billion came from the automotive sector (73% more). The same sector remains Tesla's main source of profit: $13.84 billion last year (up 98%), while the company's total profit, including all divisions, was $13.61 billion (up 105%). The operating margin was 12.1% last year and even reached 14.7% in the fourth quarter.
Shareholders earned $5.52 billion from Tesla last year, while in 2020 their total profit was only $721 million, and before that there were losses. Also last year, the company invested $6.5 billion in its own development, and almost all of this amount was spent on the construction of two new plants – in Austin (USA, Texas) and Berlin (Germany).
Initially, the opening of these production sites was planned for the end of 2021, but it was postponed to the first quarter of 2022. In addition, the Berlin plant is already fully ready for mass production, Tesla is only waiting for official permission from local authorities to produce cars. At the site in Texas, the equipment is being fine-tuned and pilot production is being launched. At the first stage, both companies will produce Tesla Model Y SUVs, and immediately with new batteries using 4680 format cells. It is alleged that such batteries cost half as much to manufacture, heat up less and allow you to increase battery life by 16% range.
This year, Tesla will direct its main resources to increase the production of existing models, so the market debut of new electric vehicles has been postponed again. According to Elon Musk, Tesla Cybertruck, Tesla Roadster supercar and Tesla Semi long-range tractor will enter the market only in 2023. And the promised $ 25,000 “junior electric car” was generally postponed for an incomprehensible period.
What else? The company said 60,000 of its electric vehicles are already on the road with the Full Self-Driving beta activated. The exact date of its full certification has not yet been set, but the surcharge for it has increased again: if Tesla initially asked for five thousand dollars for FSD, and then raised the price to ten thousand, now the autopilot costs 12 thousand dollars. Finally, last year the number of Supercharger-branded fast-charging stations increased by 36%, and now the network has 3,476 stations worldwide.
