Revenue is up at Tesla Motors, but that didn’t stop the Silicon Valley electric automaker from posting a fourth-quarter loss.
The loss totaled $107.6 million despite record production numbers.
Investment in new models, as well as vehicle deliveries are to blame for the red ink which caused Tesla stock to slide three percent in after hours trading.
In Q4 Tesla registered $336.5 million in operating expenses compared to $169.9 million a year ago. Much of that is said to be as a result of investments in the upcoming Model X SUV.
According to Tesla the company built 11,627 cars in the fourth quarter and 35,000 for the year but managed to deliver just 9,834 units in Q4 and 31,655 for the past 12 months.
Of those roughly 17,400 were sold in North America, approximately the same number Tesla managed to move the year before. 9,500 cars were shipped to Europe and the rest to the Asia Pacific region. In April Tesla began selling cars in China and has admitted to facing a much tougher selling climate there than expected.
Despite those challenges and flat sales in its biggest market, Tesla says it expects to sell 55,000 units in 2015, an increase of 74%.
Helping make that number will be the new Model X crossover which, after numerous previous delays, CEO Elon Musk says will launch in the third quarter of this year.
[Source: Reuters]
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