Tesla forecasts 2009 profit, despite recent hard knocks
Electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors announced that it will hit profitability by the second half of 2009 in its recent newsletter. Boosted by the $40 million in capital it raised from existing investors in December, the San Carlos, Calif.-based company said this prediction is based on pre-sales of its new Roadster vehicle model, which is already sold out through November of this year. On top of that, the Department of Energy has agreed to distribute funds from Tesla’s $350 million loan application over the next five months.
Still, the announcement seems incredibly optimistic considering the blows Tesla has weathered in recent months. Last November, it reported that it only had about $9 million. Add that to a round of personnel cuts, a delayed production schedule (the company failed to raise the requisite $100 million for a new model) and a management shakeup. Industry insiders and investors became increasingly skeptical of the company’s ability to turn out feasible models. Finances ran so thin at one point that chief executive Elon Musk (a co-founder of PayPal) said he would pour his own money into guaranteeing timely production.
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