Although there are constant doubts, Tesla's performance does not seem to have been greatly affected. On January 27, Tesla's 2021 financial report was released. According to the financial report, Tesla's full-year revenue last year was $53.82 billion, an increase of 71% year-on-year, and GAAP's net profit was $5.519 billion, which is tesla's 10th consecutive quarter of profitability, which translates into about 35.1 billion yuan, almost 100 million yuan per day. This year, although a "military order" was issued to increase delivery volume by 50%, Tesla may find new profit points due to problems such as insufficient chips and supply chains.
The proportion of vehicle sales revenue increased
According to the financial report, in the fourth quarter of last year, Tesla's revenue was $17.7 billion, an increase of 65% year-on-year; GAAP operating profit was $2.6 billion, achieving an operating profit margin of 14.7%, and GAAP net profit was $2.3 billion, an increase of 760% year-on-year. In 2021, Tesla's revenue was $53.823 billion, up 71% year-on-year, and GAAP's net profit was $5.519 billion (equivalent to about RMB351.1298), an increase of 665% year-on-year. Some netizens said: "The net profit unit is replaced by RMB, tesla makes an average daily profit of nearly 100 million, which is really Versailles!" ”
From the book data, Tesla's vehicle sales revenue accounts for an increasing proportion of the annual revenue, and the carbon credit income gradually declines. Taking the fourth quarter of last year as an example, vehicle sales revenue was US$15.34 billion, accounting for 86.6%, while carbon credit revenue fell to US$314 million. Last year, Tesla managed to get rid of the "charcoal seller" label.
Behind this is Tesla's increasing delivery volume. Last year, Tesla delivered 936,200 vehicles for the whole year, an increase of 87% year-on-year. Among them, the Chinese market delivered 484,000 vehicles, an increase of 235% year-on-year, accounting for more than half of Tesla's global deliveries. As deliveries climbed, Tesla's costs fell further. According to the financial report, the cost of Tesla's bicycles in the third and fourth quarters of last year has dropped to about $36,000.
"Before the price of domestic Tesla has risen, but it has not affected the demand of consumers to buy cars, and orders are still continuous." A Tesla direct store staff told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that last year, a single store could sell more than a dozen vehicles a day, and now the delivery time of the Model 3 is 12-16 weeks. Yan Jinghui, a member of the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that after the launch of Tesla's two domestic models, it not only reduced Tesla's production costs, but also attracted the attention of many Chinese consumers at the starting price of less than 300,000 yuan. Whether it is production or sales, the Chinese market is gradually becoming the support of Tesla's global. According to statistics, in the second quarter of last year, Tesla's Market share in China has surpassed That of Europe, becoming the second largest consumer market after North America.
Tesla related sources said: "Profitability has benefited from the further reduction of Tesla's bicycle costs, the improvement of car deliveries and the increase in profits of other businesses such as car rental. At the same time, Model Y is the key to Tesla's profit margin, and the localization of the Shanghai Gigafactory is also an important factor. ”
Supply chain hidden dangers are still there
Tesla is no longer worried about how to make a profit, in the "wild" state, Tesla mentioned in the financial report that it plans to increase production capacity as soon as possible, and in the next few years, it is expected that the average annual growth rate of vehicle deliveries will reach 50%. This means that Tesla has a delivery target of nearly 1.5 million vehicles this year.
However, Tesla, which has driven up profits by the decline in the cost of delivery growth, has no new car planning. At the earnings report meeting, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has not been present since the second quarter of last year, appeared again, but he did not bring news of new products, but said: "This year Tesla's focus is to expand production capacity, Tesla will not launch new models this year, electric pickup truck Cyberruck, electric van Semi and sports car Roadster or will be postponed to next year production and delivery." At the same time, there is still no news about the $25,000 model that has attracted much attention.
Tesla also mentioned in the earnings report that in addition to adding two new factories in Berlin and Austin, the Fremont plant in California and the Shanghai Gigafactory will continue to increase production capacity. This means that this year Tesla is pinning its hopes on increasing production to push up sales. Tesla related people said: "Last quarter, Austin, Berlin two factories have produced a lot of cars, of which the company is in Austin factory to produce a Model Y equipped with 4680 batteries, is expected to start delivery this quarter." ”
Although Musk's statement is quite "Versailles", the problem of tight supply chain is still a challenge. The above-mentioned relevant people admitted that the specific growth rate mainly depends on the equipment capacity, operational efficiency and the capacity and stability of the supply chain. With supply chains becoming a major limiting factor, plants have been running below capacity for several consecutive quarters, and this is likely to continue this year.
Target the software and insurance business
In the absence of new products and tight supply chains, Tesla shifted its hopes of making money to software, hoping that the profits related to automotive hardware would be accompanied by software-related profits.
It is understood that Tesla continues to update and iterate on the beta software of the fully autonomous driving capability (FSD), and released a total of seven updates in the fourth quarter of last year. At the same time, Tesla's software test vehicles in the United States have also increased from a few thousand in the third quarter to nearly 60,000. "In the future, Tesla's software business will be the main focus." Tesla sources said the FSD stack will be deeply improved in the coming months and predicts that "the supercomputer Dojo will start to come in handy this summer."
In addition, Musk said that this year is expected to let 80% of U.S. car owners use the insurance provided by Tesla, and the insurance business will be expected to go online in the European market. It is reported that 80% of Tesla customers will choose Tesla insurance at the end of this year. This means that insurance will also become one of the ways Tesla will make money in the future.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, said that software-defined cars have become the consensus of the industry, and the way to make money driven by new forces to build cars has not only relied on reducing costs and growing sales, but also peripherals, services, and software will become the gripper of profits, on the one hand, to promote the rise in delivery, on the other hand, to earn more profits through payment.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Liu Xiaomeng