Tesla pushes back Model 3 production target — and may have to raise more cash
San Francisco — Tesla pushed back a key production target for its pivotal Model 3 sedan again, raising questions about whether the electric-vehicle (EV) maker may need to raise more cash. The Elon Musk-led company now expects to assemble 5,000 Model 3s a week by the end of June, delaying plans to reach that milestone by another three months. Tesla didn’t come close to achieving an initial goal to manufacture that many of the sedans a week by the end of 2017. Tesla’s slower ramp-up in manufacturing the Model 3 led analysts to speculate another capital raise could be coming. The car maker has been blowing through more than $1bn a quarter as it’s had trouble scaling up output, despite spending heavily on robots, assembly lines and tooling for the sedan that is Musk’s cheapest yet, starting at $35,000. "Bears will point to this as another missed promise," Joe Spak, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note to clients on Wednesday. While a capital raise may not be required, Tesla...
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