Tesla to launch new models ahead of planned timeline, shares jump
- Tesla to launch new models by early 2025 to let it better control capital expenditures during ‘uncertain times’
- The 12.5 per cent rise of Tesla shares in extended trading added about US$57 billion to Tesla’s market capitalisation
Tesla said on Tuesday it would introduce “new models” by early 2025 using its current platforms and production lines as it retreated from more ambitious plans to produce an all-new model that had been expected to cost US$25,000.
The talk of new offerings on a faster timeline sent Tesla shares soaring in after-hours trading, a much-needed boost, after months of decline during which Tesla has struggled with fierce competition and falling sales. The gains came despite Tesla releasing first-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations.
Chief Executive Elon Musk declined to provide details of the new vehicles but said they would include more-affordable models that would start production by early 2025. That is just before the target Musk previously set for launching the all-new low-cost model widely known as the Model 2.
Reuters exclusively reported on April 5 that Tesla had scrapped plans for the Model 2, which investors had expected to drive Tesla’s growth into a mass-market carmaker. Musk initially reacted to that story with a post on his social platform X saying “Reuters is lying,” without pointing out any inaccuracies.
On Tuesday, neither Tesla nor Musk directly addressed the Reuters report.
