"There is nothing unfair about price increases, the demand is there.". Musk said.
There are two backgrounds for saying this sentence, one is that Tesla has raised prices several times in the first quarter of this year. Second, Tesla's goal this year is to increase production capacity by 50%. For the target of 50% increase in production this year, Musk believes that it is still not enough to meet the needs of the market.
Musk's meaning is obvious, there are too many consumers buying Tesla, and the demand is too strong. That is, Tesla is and will remain in a state of "short supply" in the short term.
Obviously, in a seller-dominated market, Tesla holds the absolute dominance of pricing, and the price increase is not unreasonable.
One car earns 100,000
Since the beginning of this year, Tesla has raised prices several times in the Chinese and American markets. Among them, the Model 3 and Model Y in China were raised by 15,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan; the Model S and Model X in the United States were raised by 5,000 US dollars to 12,000 US dollars.
For Tesla's price increase, Musk said at the earnings briefing that in addition to the chip shortage, the outbreak of the new crown has also affected the supply chain and factory operations. In addition, the prices of some raw materials have risen several times in recent months. Despite the continued focus on reducing manufacturing costs, inflation continues to have an impact on the cost structure, prompting adjustments in product prices.
After the price increase, how much did Tesla make in the first quarter of this year?
According to the financial report, Tesla's total revenue in the first quarter was $18.756 billion, an increase of 81% from $10.389 billion in the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income for the first quarter was $3.736 billion, up 255% year-over-year.
Compared with the global delivery of about 310,000 new cars in the first quarter, Tesla's pre-tax profit per vehicle increased by more than 60% to $16,203, or about 104,800 yuan.
The increase in the price of raw materials has led to the increase in terminal prices of new energy automobile companies, in addition to Tesla, there are also Volkswagen, Ideal, Xiaopeng, as well as BYD, GAC Aian and Weilai and many other car companies.
However, among the many car companies that have increased their prices, Tesla's price increase is in the forefront.
Moreover, the gross profit margin of Tesla's auto business in the first quarter reached 32.9%, an increase of 6.36 percentage points over the first quarter of last year, a record high. Much higher than WEILAI (20.1%), Xiaopeng (12.9%) and Ideal Automobile (20.6%), as well as Volkswagen (17.5%) and BMW Group (17.6%), close to the 38.4% gross margin of Apple's hardware products.
Musk further emphasized that the price increase at the beginning of the year not only includes the impact of current raw material prices, but also takes into account the rising costs of suppliers and logistics costs in the next year.
"Our car purchase list is very long, and some models have even been listed until next year." Musk said, "Therefore, the pricing we are currently giving has actually taken into account the possible supplier costs and logistics cost increases in the next 6 to 12 months, and the cost increases are almost inevitable." This is why we have chosen to raise prices now, after all, it may take a year to order a car now. ”
According to the data, Tesla delivered 310,048 vehicles in the first quarter, of which the Model 3 and Model Y delivered a total of 295,324 vehicles, accounting for 95.25%.
At present, Tesla's official website in China shows that the delivery cycle of the Model 3 rear-wheel drive version is displayed as 20-24 weeks, and the delivery cycle of the Model 3 high-performance version is 16-20 weeks; the delivery cycle of the Model Y rear-wheel drive version is 10-14 weeks, the long-endurance version is 16-20 weeks, and the high-performance version is 12-16 weeks.
Obviously, according to the delivery cycle marked on the official website, Tesla's current main sales model Model 3 and Model Y two products have a maximum delivery cycle of 6 months, which is somewhat different from Musk's statement that "some models have been scheduled until next year".
Is there still room for profit?
From Musk's words, it can be seen that the price increase at the beginning of the year takes into account the situation in the next 6-12 months. But many people believe that even if Tesla does not increase prices in the future, its profits still have room to grow.
First, Tesla's European Berlin Gigafactory and North American factory have been put into operation.
In early April, Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory in Europe and the Texas Gigafactory in the United States were officially put into operation. Next year, the Model Y production of the Texas Gigafactory is expected to reach 500,000 units per year.
When the Texas Gigafactory was put into operation, Musk revealed that the Texas Gigafactory was manufacturing 4680 power batteries, and the Model Y produced would be equipped with 4680 power batteries. Similarly, the Berlin plant in Europe has already started production of the Model Y model.
The commissioning of the two factories will double Tesla's annual production capacity. According to Reuters, Tesla's total production capacity may reach 2 million vehicles / year.
According to data from the Association, the Shanghai Gigafactory contributed 182,000 vehicles to the Chinese market in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 58.8% of Tesla's global deliveries. The Shanghai Gigafactory also exported 40,500 and 33,300 units overseas in January and February, compared with 60 units exported in March.
With the commissioning and delivery of two super factories in Europe and the United States, the dependence of the European and American markets on the production capacity of the Shanghai super factory in China will gradually be reduced. Tesla can not only save a transportation cost, but also shorten the pick-up cycle in the Chinese market, and sales in the Chinese market will increase significantly.
On the other hand, with the commissioning of two new factories and the release of backlogs of orders in the European and American markets, Tesla's production and sales will continue to grow.
According to Tesla's plan, its sales target for this year is 1.5 million units, an increase of about 60% compared with last year's sales of 935,700 vehicles. Driven by the economy of scale, Tesla's manufacturing costs will be further reduced this year.
In addition, the increase in sales will also drive carbon credit revenue, further increasing Tesla's revenue. Tesla earned $679 million in the first quarter through the sale of carbon credits, an increase of more than 116% over the previous quarter.
In the face of rising raw material prices, Tesla is not without countermeasures.
"Tesla may directly enter the field of lithium mining and refining on a large scale", Musk recently said on Twitter, "the price of lithium has reached a crazy level, although lithium itself is not in short supply, almost everywhere on the earth, but the speed of mining and refining lithium is very slow." ”
Public information shows that as early as September 2020, Tesla signed a supply agreement with Australian lithium producer Piedmont Lithium. In February, Tesla signed a spodumene concentrate supply agreement with Australian lithium miner Liontown Sources.
In addition, in 2021, Tesla signed a nickel mining contract with Australian mining giant BHP Billiton and French New Caledonia mining company Prony Resource for about 60,000 tons per year. In January 2022, Tesla signed a six-year contract with Tyrone Metal for the supply of 75,000 tons of nickel.
Despite supply agreements with major upstream suppliers, Musk still wants to have more control over raw materials. Therefore, participating in lithium mining and refining can not only reduce costs, but also solve the problem of raw material supply from the source.
Obviously, as the world's largest sales volume, the largest production capacity of pure electric vehicle manufacturers. Tesla has entered a benign operating state of "snowball". With the increase in production capacity and sales, as well as the control of upstream and downstream, Tesla's money-making effect in the rising period will continue to expand.