Tesla Has Jumped the Shark, is a Dead Company Walking

Tesla's head of global security is out after 11 months

1) Tesla's head of global security, Jeff Jones, who reported directly to Elon Musk, is no longer working for the company after just eleven months.

2) Sources familiar say Jones was dismissed, but reasons why were closely held. Tesla only informed Jones' colleagues that his "position was no longer needed."

3) During Jones' tenure, a former Tesla employee filed a complaint with the SEC alleging that the company hid theft of raw materials worth tens of millions of dollars from investors and others in the first half of 2018.

options based wrote:

Henry Ford wrote:

Who would have thought that building a cheap car with profit is difficult?

Musk is an idiot. He has no clue about manufacturing.

The profit comes from bilking the USA taxpayer. Musk is smart, he understands cronyism.

Yes he does.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) recently received another vote of confidence from a prestigious Wall Street research firm. In a recent note, CFRA, an independent investment research company, stated that it was raising its price target for Tesla stock to $420 per share — the same amount that Elon Musk quoted earlier this year during his short-lived attempt at taking Tesla private.

CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson maintained the firm’s “Buy” rating on the company, despite the electric car market likely becoming far more competitive next year with the arrival of high-profile vehicles like the Porsche Taycan. In a note on Tuesday, Nelson stated that there would likely be “limited impact” from competition, particularly as Tesla is poised to undercut rival carmakers with the rollout of the highly-anticipated $35,000 base Model 3. The CFRA analyst’s updated $420 price target is an 11% increase from the firm’s previous PT of $375.

“We expect unit costs to continue to fall, reflecting improved operating efficiencies and fixed cost absorption,” Nelson wrote.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-stock-upgraded-to-buy-at-cfra-2018-12-04

Pierre Ferragu of New Street Research is one of Tesla’s most prominent supporters in Wall Street. The analyst, who holds a $530 price target on the electric car maker, stated in a note on Tuesday that Tesla made a lot of mistakes during the Model 3 ramp. Ferragu even described the Fremont factory as a “crowded mess” in its current state due to the facility’s complexities. An example of this was an intricate conveyor belt system that was eventually scrapped and replaced with human workers, resulting in the process being 30% less productive than what Tesla initially anticipated.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/teslas-biggest-bull-says-its-factory-mess-is-a-sign-of-good-things-to-come-1544024601

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has received yet another round of support from Wall Street. In a recent note to its clients, Jefferies upgraded Tesla from “Hold” to “Buy,” while raising the company’s price target from $360 to $450, representing a 24% gain from the stock’s $363.06 closing price on Thursday.

In a note to clients on Friday, Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois stated that Tesla’s strengthening balance sheet, its resilient growth relative to the rest of the auto industry, as well as the company’s improving productivity, bodes well for the electric car maker as a whole. Houchois noted that among the carmakers in the industry today, Tesla might be the only one that would avoid a “volume zero-sum game” or “negative margin trade-off in EVs.”

“Tesla should continue to stand out with broader price points, battery security of supply, product edge and a brand that transcends the volume/premium divide. In short, in the year ahead we think only Tesla will avoid a volume zero-sum-game or negative margin trade-off in EVs,” Houchois said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/07/jefferies-upgrades-tesla-predicts-20percent-rally-and-reduced-role-for-musk.html

Tesla’s global assault with the Model 3 is set to hit its stride next year, as the electric car maker starts rolling out the vehicle to territories beyond the United States and Canada. In Europe, Tesla has recently invited Model 3 reservation holders to configure their vehicles, with the company setting an estimated delivery date of February 2019 for orders of the Model 3 Performance and the Long Range AWD.

Reports have now emerged from local media that Tesla would be shipping 3,000 vehicles per week to Europe starting February 2019. Belgian news agency Focus-WTV, for one, stated that the electric cars would be arriving every week in the port of Zeebrugge, which is located on the coast of Belgium. The local news outlet noted that the electric cars are shipped through the services of transportation firm International Car Operators (ICO), which operates a site on the Zeebrugge docks.

ICO’s operations are particularly notable as the company uses RoRo (roll-on, roll-off) ships, which are capable of loading and unloading cargo in a quick manner. The transportation of Tesla’s vehicles from the United States to Zeebrugge will reportedly take about 15 days, with the route going through the Panama Canal. Upon arriving at the coastal port, the electric cars would be distributed across Tesla’s delivery centers in Europe. ICO is reportedly investing 2.5 million euros ($2.83 million) to accommodate the influx of Tesla’s vehicles as well.

https://www.focus-wtv.be/nieuws/ico-verwacht-3000-teslas-week-zeebrugge

Another exiter wrote:

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/11/27/tesla-global-security-head-jeff-jones-out-after-11-months.html

Why is this "news"?

MSM going after Musk like they do Trump.

As Musk asked, who do you think owns the media?

The Tesla Model S in question, located on Freeway 3 in Hsinchu County, Taiwan, reportedly plowed directly into the back of a police car. Two officers that were directing traffic at the time narrowly escaped death or serious injury, reportedly jumping out of the way "just in time" before the accident occurred. The accident took place despite reports that there were "100 meters of traffic cones and flashing warning lights" placed behind the police car. After the first patrol car was hit, it subsequently wound up hitting a second patrol car. The damage was estimated to be around NT$3 million (~USD $97,300). The driver, who after feeling "drowsy", engaged his Autopilot on the highway was subsequently tested for alcohol. The test was found to be non-reactive. The driver told police he had finished a long shift at work that started at 6AM that morning, about 16 hours earlier than the accident occurred.

Tesla's website, as a reminder, states: “Autopilot is intended for use only with a fully attentive driver who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any time.”

So, naturally, when Elon Musk demonstrated Autopilot for his recent controversial 60 Minutes interview, he did just the opposite, taking his hands off the wheel before his vehicle appeared to cut off another driver in traffic during a lane change.

LOL at the idiots on here who have no knowledge finance or investments..

Wow this turned out to be a horrible call

Tesla has outperformed literally EVERY automaker out there handily - up 11% so far this year. Keep the hate coming..

I enjoy trading against idiots like you who have strong conviction, yet little knowledge about how finance or investing works - its like racing a 20 min hobby jogger at local turkey trot. Easy win.

Last week, drone footage taken of the site revealed that workers have already completed laying the perimeter fence around Gigafactory 3. The progress of the battery and electric car factory’s construction was emphasized even more in recent reports from local Chinese media, who provided some details on Gigafactory 3’s development. One of these reports stated that the facility, which is on its first stage of construction, is currently one year ahead of schedule.

Tesla is operating well under the approving eye of the Chinese government. Permits for the project were quickly filed and approved, and local Shanghai banks were reported to have easily granted low-interest loans for the facility’s construction. The local government seemed to have given its blessing when Tesla made its bid for the plot of land in the Lingang Industrial Zone as well, since the electric car maker’s bid went completely unchallenged. Overall, it almost seems like China is favorably looking to Tesla as a company that can lead a transition towards the widespread adoption of electric cars. As such, it is doing what it can to support the company.

The government’s show of support appears to be working well, as exhibited by the notable level of interest that Gigafactory 3 is attracting. Just recently, Tesla held a job fair for positions in the upcoming facility. The response to Tesla’s job fair overwhelmed the electric car maker, forcing the company to extend its hiring hours to accommodate the large number of applicants for the site. A number of the applicants interviewed by local media even noted that they traveled from faraway cities just to apply for a post in Gigafactory 3.

Tesla will be soon the most efficient company, when Elon does it all himself.

First they steal from the public by "tax breaks" (available mostly to well-off already), then they wantonly break the law.

According to new figures from CBS, NL’s national statistics office, 75% of the country’s 9,000 Tesla drivers have picked up a speeding ticket last year. That’s the highest proportion of speeding drivers from any car brand. Just below Tesla drivers are owners of plug-in hybrid cars, with 2/3 of PHEV owners being fined at least once for speeding.

In a recent analysis, auto veteran and founder of Germany’s Center of Automotive Research (CAR) at the University of Duisburg-Essen Ferdinand Dudenhöffer stated that 2019 would likely see a massive influx of electric vehicle registrations in the country. Dudenhöffer notes that a large part of these registrations will be due to the arrival of the Model 3, which he expects would help Tesla sell up to 20,000 electric vehicles per year in Germany.

“If it works with the production and an early sales start of Model 3 in Germany, for Tesla altogether up to 20,000 sales in this country in 2019 are possible,” the industry expert wrote in his study.

If Tesla does end up selling as many vehicles as Dudenhöffer expects in 2019, the electric car maker will become Germany’s most successful EV brand. While other EVs and electrified vehicles are available in the market, after all, no other car comes close to the estimated sales numbers of the Model 3. From January to October this year, for example, Dudenhöffer notes that Smart sold 7,030, Volkswagen sold 6,420, and Renault and BMW sold 5,150 green vehicles each. Tesla, which so far only sells the Model S sedan and the Model X SUV in Germany, sold 1,678 cars in the same period.

Tesla might dominate the German electric car market next year. That might be possible if Dudenhoffer says that. He is an expert. BUT that does not mean that Tesla will dominate the German car market. That is something entirely different.

The main problem I see with the electric cars are the loading stations and the plug ins. Not enough and not standardized. People won't change their driving habits because of the lack of the right loading stations.

News from China

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-26/chinese-media-teslas-shanghai-gigafactory-shows-no-signs-ongoing-construction-0

As electric motors encroach on internal combustion engines, some truck owners are getting angry. And Teslas are a favorite target.

One of the most recent incidents was at a North Carolina convenience store called Sheetz. Reddit user Leicina posted her account of several pickup-trucks pulling in to block all the Tesla supercharging station’s spots.

“I’ve never had a supercharging experience like this one,” she wrote. “These trucks blocked all the chargers, chanted ‘F’ Tesla, and were kicked out by a Sheetz employee.”