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But the ratio of Model 3 to S+X units sold in Q3 does not support a 10% drop in Gross Margin for Q3, unless the cost of manufacturing the 3s they did ship was w
by 11thEarlOfMar 9y ago
But the ratio of Model 3 to S+X units sold in Q3 does not support a 10% drop in Gross Margin for Q3, unless the cost of manufacturing the 3s they did ship was way higher than the associated revenue (significantly negative gross margins on the 3s). Maybe there are costs associated with the gigafactory that are getting assigned as cost of goods for the model 3s and throwing the margins out of kilter until the volume gets up? Or perhaps depreciation on the stamping equipment and fixtures that are largely idle?
I'm fine with the gross margin trending towards, say, 20% over the next few quarters since GM for example is at 12% (I'd expect Tesla's gross margin to be higher than GMs because Tesla keeps the revenue that GM has to give to its dealers).
- sliken 9y agoMan hours aren't free. Nor is a huge amount of your production facility running idle because one of your parts is constrained. The parts that aren't automated are being done by hand for now. So sure they might well be making a loss at the current rate of sales of the model 3, but will be quite profitable once the production rate increases.