Tesla, Inc. (formerly Tesla Motors, Inc.

) is an American automotive and energy company based

in Palo Alto, California.[7] The company specializes in electric car manufacturing and, through
its SolarCity subsidiary, solar panel manufacturing. It operates multiple production and assembly
plants, notably Gigafactory 1[8] near Reno, Nevada, and its main vehicle manufacturing facility
at Tesla Factory[9] in Fremont, California. As of March 2019, Tesla sells the Model S,[10] Model
X,[11] and Model 3 automobiles.[12]It is accepting reservations for the Model Y,[13] Roadster
(2020),[14] and Semi[15] vehicles. Tesla also sells Powerwall[16] and Powerpack[17] batteries, solar
panels,[18] solar roof tiles,[19] and some related products.
Tesla was founded in July 2003, by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, under the
name Tesla Motors. The company's name is a tribute to engineer Nikola Tesla. In early Series A
funding, Tesla Motors was joined by Elon Musk, J. B. Straubel and Ian Wright, all of whom are
retroactively allowed to call themselves co-founders of the company. Musk, who formerly served
as chairman and is the current chief executive officer, said that he envisioned Tesla Motors as
a technology company and independent automaker, aimed at eventually offering electric cars at
prices affordable to the average consumer. Tesla Motors shortened its name to Tesla in February
2017.
After 10 years in the market, Tesla ranked as the world's best selling plug-in passenger car
manufacturer in 2018, both as a brandand by automotive group, with 245,240 units delivered and a
market share of 12% of the plug-in segment sales.[20][21][22] Tesla vehicle sales in the U.S. increased by
280% from 48,000 in 2017 to 182,400 in 2018,[23] and globally were up by 138% from 2017.[24]

Tesla Motors was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning who financed
the company until the Series A round of funding.[25] The founders were influenced to start the
company after GM recalled all its EV1 electric cars in 2003 and then destroyed them.[26] Elon Musk
led the Series A round of investment in February 2004, joining Tesla's board of directors as its
chairman. Tesla's primary goal was to commercialize electric vehicles, starting with a premium
sports car aimed at early adopters and then moving into more mainstream vehicles, including
sedans and affordable compacts.[27]
Musk took an active role within the company and oversaw Roadster product design at a detailed
level.[28] In addition to his daily operational roles, Musk was the controlling investor in Tesla from the
first financing round, funding $6.5M the Series A capital investment round of US$7.5 million with
personal funds.[citation needed] Musk later led Tesla Motors' Series B, $9M of US$13 million, and co-led the
third, $12M of US$40 million round in May 2006. Tesla's third round included investment from
prominent entrepreneurs including Google co-founders Sergey Brin & Larry Page,
former eBay President Jeff Skoll, Hyatt heir Nick Pritzker and added the VC firms Draper Fisher
Jurvetson, Capricorn Management and The Bay Area Equity Fund managed by JPMorgan
Chase.[29] The fourth round in May 2007 added another US$45 million and brought the total
investments to over US$105 million through private financing.[citation needed]

Tesla aims to change the automotive industry by creating many innovative pieces that fit together;
this strategy was called "complex coordination" by Tesla investor Peter Thiel.[30] Its marketing,
production, sales and technology strategies all are notably different from its competitors.

Robotic manufacturing of the Model S at the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California

Tesla's automotive strategy is to emulate typical technological-product life cycles and initially
target affluent buyers. It then moved into larger markets at lower price points.[27][31] The battery and
electric drivetrain technology for each model would be developed and paid for through the sales of
earlier models.[27][32] The Roadster was low-volume and priced at US$109,000. Model S and Model X
targeted the broader luxury market. Model 3 is aimed at a higher-volume segment.[33][34] This business
strategy is common in the technology industry.[35] According to a Musk blog post, "New technology in
any field takes a few versions to optimize before reaching the mass market, and in this case it is
competing with 150 years and trillions of dollars spent on gasoline cars."[36]
Tesla's production strategy includes a high degree of vertical integration (80% in 2016[37]), which
includes component production and proprietary charging infrastructure. The company operates
enormous factories to capture economies of scale. Tesla builds electric powertrain components for
vehicles from other automakers, including the Smart ED2 ForTwo electric drive (the lowest-priced
car from Daimler AG), the Toyota RAV4 EV, and Freightliner's Custom Chassis Electric Van. Vertical
integration is rare in the automotive industry, where companies typically outsource 80% of
components to suppliers,[38] and focus on engine manufacturing and final assembly.[39][40]

The Tesla Patent Wall at its headquarters was removed after the company announced its patents are part of
the open source movement.[41]

Tesla's sales strategy is to sell its vehicles online and in company-owned showrooms rather than
through a conventional dealer network. Moving towards an e-commerce strategy, customers are
able to customize and order their vehicles online.[42][43]
Tesla's technology strategy focuses on pure-electric propulsion technology, and transferring other
approaches from the technology industry to transportation, such as online software updates.[44] Tesla
allows its technology patents to be used by anyone in good faith.[45] Licensing agreements include
provisions whereby the recipient agrees not to file patent suits against Tesla, or to copy its designs
directly.[46] Tesla retained control of its other intellectual property, such as trademarks and trade
secrets to prevent direct copying of its technology.[47]
Tesla Human Resources VP Arnnon Geshuri committed to bringing manufacturing jobs "back to
California".[48][49] In 2015, Geshuri led a hiring surge about which he said: "In the last 14 months we've
had 1.5 million applications from around the world. People want to work here."[50] Geshuri
emphasizes hiring veterans, saying "Veterans are a great source of talent for Tesla, and we're going
after it."[49][51][52]

Sales

n 2016 BYD Auto was the world's top selling plug-in car manufacturer with 101,183 units sold,
followed by Tesla with 76,243.[55][56] However, Tesla revenues ranked first with US$6.35 billion, while
BYD notched US$3.88 billion.[57] Also in 2016, Tesla sold US$1 billion worth of cars in China, the
world's largest market for electric vehicles, and in October of the following year it reached an
agreement with the Chinese government to build a factory in Shanghai.[58]

Tesla was the world's best selling plug-in passenger car manufacturer in 2018.[20][21]Shown its entire line up as of
2019
After ranking third by brand in 2017, behind BYD and BAIC,[59][60] Tesla ranked as the world's best
selling plug-in passenger car manufacturer in 2018, both as a brand and by automotive group, with
245,240 units delivered, capturing a market share of 12% of all plug-in cars sold globally in
2018,[20][21][22] followed by BYD Auto with 227,152 plug-in passenger cars delivered.[22][61]
In August 2015, Tesla launched a revamp of its stores to include interactive displays focused on
safety, autopilot, charging network and motors.[62] As of October 2016, Tesla operated about 260
galleries or retail locations in the United States.[63] In June 2016, Tesla opened its first store-within-a-
store: a small outpost within the Nordstrom department store at The Grove shopping mall in Los
Angeles.[64] In 2017, Tesla opened retail locations in Dubai and South Korea.[65]
Foreseeing Germany as its second market after the U.S. (and the largest in Europe), in 2016 Tesla
stated the Dutch (Dienst Wegverkeer) RDW-issued Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA) should be
accepted as a legal compliance document, with no need to seek specific national type of approvals
in EU member states.[66] In 2017 Tesla had a US$52 million marketing budget and used a referral
program and word of mouth to attract buyers.[67][68]
In April 2019 Tesla reported a loss of $702 million for the first quarter after lower than expected
delivery numbers.[69] However, next month Tesla reported it raised up to $1.5 billion in convertible
senior notes. And this is not the limit as Tesla is going to raise even more by giving underwriters the
chance to buy a further $202.5 million for over-allotments. In share numbers, that’s an initial
2,723,198 shares that could expand to 3,131,677.[70]

Production and sales by quarter[edit]

Model Model Model

Cumulative Total Total In
Quarter S X 3 Source
production production sales[b] transit[c]
sales sales sales

Q1 2015 47,344 11,160 10,045 10,045 [71]

Q2 2015 60,151 12,807 11,532 11,532 [72]

Q3 2015 73,242 13,091 11,597 6 11,603 [73]

Q4 2015 87,279 14,037 17,272 206 17,478 [74]

Q1 2016 102,789 15,510 12,420 2,400 14,820 2,615 [75]

Q2 2016 121,134 18,345 9,764 4,638 14,402 5,150 [76][77]

Q3 2016 146,319 25,185 16,047 8,774 24,821 5,065 [78]

 Q4
171,201 24,882 12,700 9,500 22,254 6,450 [79][80]
2016[d]

Q1 2017 196,619 25,418 ~13,450 ~11,550 25,051 ~4,650 [81]

Q2 2017 222,327 25,708 ~12,000 ~10,000 22,026 ~3,500 [82][83]

Q3 2017 247,663 25,336 14,065 11,865 222 26,137 4,820 [84][85]

Q4 2017 272,228 24,565 ~15,200 ~13,120 1,542 29,967 3,380 [86][87]

Q1 2018 306,722 34,494 11,730 10,070 8,182 29,997 6,100 [88]

Q2 2018 360,061 53,339 10,930 11,370 18,440 40,740 15,058 [89][90]

Q3 2018 440,203 80,142 14,470 13,190 56,065 83,725 11,824 [91][92]

Q4 2018 526,758 86,555 13,500 14,050 63,359 90,700 2,907 [93][94]

Q1 2019 603,858 77,100 12,100 50,900 63,000 10,600 [95]