Tesla Amps Up Efforts to Overtake Ford
I wouldn’t be surprised if Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, doesn’t have an alter-ego of Batman, or a Hi-tech laser shooting suit like the Ironman. After all, all of the above-mentioned figures are very rich and are being surrounded by cutting edge technology. But this article is not about this revelation; rather it is more about the economics and stock market.
As of this moment, Elon Musk has raced past Henry Ford on market value and investor confidence. Ford is an American automotive giant that has built over 350 million cars in its rich history spreading over decades worth of time. Tesla, another American company, on the other hand, has been present for about 15 years and has never made a profit. On Monday, there was a 7% increase in share value of Tesla, putting it ahead of Ford regarding stock market value. Presently Tesla stands at about 49 Billion Dollars, while Ford comes behind at 46 Billion dollars.
This is the latest sign that the global automotive industry is undergoing a massive shift, though Ford still has the lead in other areas. Tesla posted revenue of 7 billion dollars in 2016, and a profit of 21.9 million dollars, whereas Ford had registered a total revenue of 151.8 billion in 2016 with a profit of 4.6 billion dollars.
Though Tesla is behind Ford regarding sales figures etc., investors still believe it is glaringly obvious standard and a role model for any battery powered automobile (company), while Ford is the epitome of an archetypical mass production vehicle business, though it is also working on electric vehicles and autonomous vehicle technology.
Tesla’s encouraging first quarter statistics come just in time as it gears up the production of Model 3, which is the cheapest Tesla yet, this summer. It will start at $35,000 and (reportedly) has 400,000 pre-orders from people.
Let’s hope that Tesla and electric car technology prospers and becomes even cheaper and efficient. Pakistani Government should also work on policy measures that allow import of Tesla and all related infrastructure (Charging equipment, stations, etc.) without much taxes so that one day it becomes a common sight here as well.
