As we start 2023, Tesla is still setting the pace: who’d have thought it?
“Oh my God, Tesla is headed for disaster, there’s no way it can manage when its top executive and representative figure is on Twitter all day and tied up in lawsuits of all kinds; these are going to be the worst results in its history…”
Meanwhile, in the real world, Tesla has just released its results for the last quarter of 2022, showing a 12% increase in profits, revenue of $24.3 billion and an annual profit of $12.6 billion, thanks to selling more vehicles than ever (1.3 million, with manufacturing growth of 43% year-on-year) and beating the analysts’ forecasts. Earnings per share came in at $1.07, up from $0.68 last year. Any other automakers announcing anything like that?
All this in a terrible year for the industry, with chronic supply chain problems, factories shutting down, problems in China over zero COVID policies, and difficulties in getting hold of microprocessors and other components. But Tesla has not only done well, it has even managed to cut prices significantly, which is resulting in much higher demand during January. This year, goal is to reach two million vehicles, although it doesn’t want to commit to that number due to external factors that could affect production capacity.
