OPINION: Elon Musk blamed the price increases on higher costs, though those certainly did not show up on the balance sheet, where Tesla put up record profit margins, writes columnist tpoletti.
Tesla Inc. reported a stunning first quarter with fat profits Wednesday, driven by prices that have grown steadily along with demand for electric vehicles and supply-chain snags throughout the automotive sector.
For a company that long ran on losses, the profit is even more stunning. Chief Executive Elon Musk — who previously made getting electric cars to an affordable level a central goal — seemed defensive when talking about the company’s much higher prices, though. “In some cases, we’re seeing suppliers request 20% to 30% cost increases for parts from last year to the end of this year,” Musk said in defending the increase. “So there’s a lot of cost pressure there. That’s why we raised our prices, because when things are this uncertain with respect to inflation, which we know is high, and we’ve got orders that go out a year or more in some cases, then we have to anticipate those cost increases.
“Robotaxi and autonomy, I think will end up providing consumers with by far the lowest cost per mile of transport that they’ve ever experienced,” he said. “It’s really quite substantial.”
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