 Tesla surprises with profit in third quarter Washington (AFP) Oct 26, 2016 - Electric carmaker Tesla on Wednesday announced a profit for the third quarter and said it sees more positive results ahead as it ramps up production of new models. The company, known for heavy investments which have led to consistent losses, said its net profit amounted to $22 million in the past quarter, as it reported record revenues and deliveries. That compared with a $230 million loss in the same period last year. Total revenues grew 145 percent from a year ago to $2.3 billion, as it delivered 24,821 vehicles, helped by the Model X sport utility vehicle added last year to its lineup. The better-than-expected results, with only its second profitable quarter as a public company, lifted Tesla shares 5.5 percent in after-hours trade on Wall Street. Company founder Elon Musk said in a letter to shareholders he expects profitability in the fourth quarter too as Tesla expands its global sales and refines its self-driving technology that is being offered -- but not activated -- on its vehicles. "New product launches, increased store efficiency and new store openings drove year-on-year order growth in the third quarter, while self-driving hardware and other product enhancements position Tesla for additional market share gains," Musk said in the letter with chief finance officer Jason Wheeler. The letter said the company expects more than 25,000 deliveries in the fourth quarter to bring the total for the second half of the year to some 50,000 "despite the challenges of winter weather and the holiday season." Tesla, known for its high-end cars which sell for upwards of $70,000, is also working on a more affordable model at about half the price which is aimed at expanding the market for electric vehicles, as it seeks to boost the range between charges. Tesla announced last week it will build self-driving technology into all the electric cars it makes, running it in "shadow" mode to gather data on whether it is safer than having people in control. Musk referred to the hardware as "basically a super-computer in a car," different from its auto-pilot technology to date. It will be up to regulators and the public as to when the self-driving capabilities will actually be put to use on roads, according to Musk. Tesla will be facing competition from other electric vehicles including the Chevrolet Bolt from General Motors, hitting the marketplace soon.
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Cars bearing the stamp of once-defunct manufacturer Borgward will once again roll off an assembly line in north Germany from 2018, the firm said Wednesday.
This time around, the homegrown motors will be electric-powered as the firm joins a Germany-wide race to produce affordable and high-performing climate-friendly cars.
Managers at Borgward have picked Bremen as the site for a new factory that will assemble vehicles from components -- so-called "semi knocked-down" assembly -- shipped over from its main factory in China.
Between the 1920s and 1960s, the northern port city was home to the firm's plant employing more than 20,000 workers.
After going bust in 1961, the marque lay dormant until being revived by Christian Borgward, grandson of the company founder, in 2015.
This time around, the inital job count will be much lower, at between 50 and 100 people.
A "flexible" factory with high levels of automation will "be able to increase output as well as the number of models to match demand," Borgward chief executive Ulrich Walker said in a statement.
And the finished product will be drastically different, with the German workers set to assemble BX7 all-electric sports utility vehicles (SUVs).
The modern, internet-connected vehicles will be a far cry from the stately coupes Borgward assembly lines turned out in the 1950s, which still count fans among classic car collectors.
Bremen's busy port of Bremerhaven, the availability of skilled labour, and high-quality parts suppliers all factored into Borgward's choice to return, CEO Walker said.
But he added that the firm was also "avowing itself to Germany as an industrial base and to our own origins."
The new site will allow Borgward to benefit from the coveted "Made in Germany" label -- but bring with it much higher labour costs than in China.
According to German news agency DPA, it will be the first car factory built in Germany since BMW and Porsche opened works in Leipzig more than 10 years ago.
In Bremen, the revived Borgward will rub shoulders with a Mercedes-Benz factory employing 13,000 people.
The brand with the three-pointed star is a key protagonist in the car industry's race to conquer the electric automobile.
Dieter Zetschke, chief executive of Stuttgart-based Mercedes parent Daimler, has pledged to unveil 10 new electric cars in the coming years.
Meanwhile, just 200 kilometres (about 120 miles) down the road from Bremen is Wolfsburg, where Germany's most prolific carmaker Volkswagen is scrambling to recover from its "Dieselgate" emissions-cheating scandal by turning towards electric cars.
With yet more familiar German brands like BMW and Porsche also in the running, along with newcomers such as California's Tesla, Borgward is entering a crowded field.
tgb/fz/cw
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