Tesla has become the world reference in the electric vehicle niche.
The firm and its whimsical and visionary CEO Elon Musk have become symbols of the decline in CO2 emissions from the automotive sector.
The automaker currently produces more than 1.37 million electric vehicles a year, driving a huge chasm with its competitors. It is profitable with margins that make its competitors green with envy.
Its market capitalization reached $1 trillion in 2021 before collapsing to nearly $390 billion currently. No other automotive group comes close. Toyota (MT) – Get a free reportthe world’s largest automotive group by production volumes, has a market value of $191 billion, while Volkswagen (VWAGY) – Get a free report has a market value of around $83 billion. Ford (F) – Get a free report and General Motors (GM) – Get a free report have a market cap of $51 billion and $52 billion, respectively.
GM and Chrysler went bankrupt
You’re here (TSLA) – Get a free report has four vehicle production plants — Fremont, Calif.; Austin, TX; Shanghai and a fourth near Berlin. The company could announce the names of the locations of the new vehicle assembly sites in the coming weeks.
Tesla currently markets five models: the entry-level Model 3 sedan, the Model Y SUV/crossover, the Model S luxury sedan, the Model X luxury SUV/crossover, and the Tesla Semi. This year, a new model, the Cybertruck should be added to this list which continues to grow.
What many forget is that 14 years ago Tesla would have simply disappeared. It was in 2009, in the midst of a financial crisis. The automaker and its co-founder Musk had yet to produce any of the vehicles currently marketed by the company six years after Tesla was founded.
The automaker had only produced the limited-edition Roadster sports car. The horizon was gloomy for the whole of the American automobile. The Detroit Big Three were desperate. Chrysler and GM went bankrupt that year. Ford was the only one not to file for bankruptcy.
For the upstart that Tesla was then, there was no other way out than to lower the curtain because everything was against the company. The climate was not favorable to electric vehicles. Affected by the crisis, consumers thought only of one thing: to save while investors fled all risky assets.
But a savior arises: Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz. That’s what Musk just revealed in a Twitter thread.
“I wonder what would have happened in 2009 if the Fed had raised rates instead of lowering them,” the billionaire wrote on Twitter on January 13. “The higher the rates, the harder the fall.”
Daimler “saved Tesla”
“Lucky Tesla found an investor back then,” one Twitter user commented.
“It’s true that Daimler’s investment in 2009 is actually what saved Tesla,” Musk replied.
On May 18, 2009, Tesla and Daimler (DMLRY) announced a strategic partnership, including the acquisition of a stake in the American firm by the German automaker.
Mercedes-Benz’s parent company has acquired nearly 10% of Tesla, and the two automakers have agreed to cooperate on battery systems, electric drive systems and individual vehicle projects, according to a press release. .
“Our strategic partnership is an important step in accelerating the commercialization of electric motors on a global scale,” said Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Head of Group Research and of the development of Mercedes-Benz cars.
“It is an honor and a powerful endorsement of our technology that Daimler would choose to invest and partner with Tesla,” Musk said. “We look forward to strategic cooperation in a number of areas, including leveraging Daimler’s engineering, production and supply chain expertise. This will expedite the production of our Tesla Model S and will ensure that it is an exceptional vehicle on every level.”
This alliance validated Musk’s vision and Tesla’s strategy. Daimler recognized that the future of automotive was in electric vehicles and that the key to success was getting to market quickly. With Tesla already proficient, partnering with Musk’s group would drastically cut the research and development time needed before Daimler’s first all-electric cars go into production.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but multiple articles reported $50 million. Daimler sold its stake in Tesla in 2014 with a huge gain.
“Ironically, the company that made the first commercially viable internal combustion engine car saved the company that made the first commercially viable electric car!” Musk concluded on January 13.
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