FLEETDRIVE
TESLA TRIUMPH SUV CHARGE CHANGING DESIGN
Tesla Inc . this week reported a thirdquarter net income of $ 331 million , extending its record streak of profitability to a fifth quarter as it aims to deliver half a million vehicles across this year .
The electric vehicle maker noted a 39 per cent jump in revenue to $ 8.8 billion . Its third-quarter automotive margin of 27.7 per cent topped the 25 percent mark for the third consecutive quarter .
“ We are increasingly focused on our next phase of growth ,” Tesla said . “ Our most recent capacity expansion investments are now stabilizing with Model 3 in Shanghai achieving its designed production rate and Model Y in Fremont expected to reach capacitylevel production soon .”
After delivering nearly 140,000 vehicles in the third quarter and 318,980 year to date , Tesla said its sticking by its target of 500,000 deliveries in 2020 .
“ Achieving this target depends primarily on quarter over quarter increases in Model Y and Shanghai production , as well as further improvements in logistics and delivery efficiency at higher volume levels ,” the company said .
The company ’ s operating expenses have skyrocketed 33 % from last quarter to $ 1.25 billion , as Elon Musk ’ s company embarks on building new factories in Austin , Texas and Brandenburg , Germany to further bolster growth .
The growth of SUVs in New Zealand has grown at a staggering rate , accounting for almost 3 out of 4 new vehicles sold .
The traditional car – sedan , station wagon , hatchback – has been shunted aside over the years by an SUV feeding frenzy fuelled partly by marketing hype that pitched New Zealanders as outdoorsy people who needed such vehicles .
At the end of September , 42,491 of the 58,952 new passenger cars ( excluding utes ) registered with the NZ Transport Agency were SUVs . That ’ s a record 72.0 % share versus 37.0 % in 2013 .
Though the growth in SUV hasn ’ t helped the overall market with new car sales down 25 per cent compared to September 2019 .
Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford said the September figures were reflective of the economy ’ s COVID-19 induced weakness and were consistent with recent months .
“ Year to date the market is down 23.8 per cent , which is consistent with recent months data confirming our expectations that 2020 will finish about 25 per cent down on 2019 volumes ,” he said .
A new video from Israeli startup Ree has demonstrated that the EV of tomorrow is basically just a giant skateboard .
Ree ’ s disruptive technology enables a completely flat and modular chassis with optimal freedom of design , allowing multiple body configurations on a single platform , increasing volume and efficiency while reducing size and weight .
With tiny motors placed inside the wheels , the car can assume any form imaginable – essentially any sort of seating or storage arrangement can be built right on top of this flat base .
Could this experiment change the way we think about the simplicity of automotive design ?
Check it out …
ISSUE 25 OCTOBER 2020 / WWW . AFMA . ORG . AU 31