Electric car-maker Tesla posted the first
quarterly profit in its ten-year history Wednesday as strong sales of
its luxury Model S sedan drove it to record revenue.
The company, which makes its cars in a huge former Toyota factory
in Silicon Valley, said it earned 11.25 million dollars in income
compared to a 90 million dollar loss in the year ago quarter. Revenue
came in at 562 million dollars, compared with just 30.17 million
dollars for the first quarter of 2012.
The company said that it is receiving orders of over 20,000 cars
per year and that it now expects to ship 21,000 cars this year.
"We exceeded our own target for deliveries," Chief Executive
Officer Musk and Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja said in the
statement. "2013 is off to a strong start."
Tesla was founded by CEO Elon Musk, who also heads the pioneering
SpaceX company which is the first private enterprise to send a rocket
to the International Space Station.
Tesla's success is in marked contrast to competitors like Fisker
Automotive which recently filed for bankruptcy. Sales of its Model S
have also exceeded those of another highly touted electric vehicle,
General Motors' Volt.
