Tesla and Southern Co. join hands to work on the testing of electric batteries.
Tesla Motors Inc. grants permission to Southern Co. the Atlanta-based electric firm to govern tests on their utility scale battery division, dubbed as Powerpack. Thomas A. Fanning, the chairman, President and chief executive officer announced about the collaboration between the two firms during the company’s stockholders annual meeting.
"At the foundation of Southern Company is our ability to develop real, innovative solutions to shape America's energy future," stated Mr. Fanning in the press release of the firm. The Southern Co. at this point of time wants to make its inventive culture relatively strong by establishing new partnerships that will allow them to strengthen their portfolio. According to him, if the company involves in such practices then it will help them to cater to the evolving energy needs of consumers.
Under this collaboration it has been agreed between Tesla Motors- the electric car giant and Southern Co will work towards exploring the possible implication of TSLA Electric batteries to cater to the electric needs of consumers along with efforts to minimize the hazardous implications of carbon emissions.
The company so far has created the right amount of anticipation that will assist them in luring customers towards their battery products. Only in its debut week, Tesla has been successful in gaining 3,800 preorders and 2500 reservations for Powerpack. So by the mid of next year, this continues to happen on the same pace than the company will be soon sold out for its battery products considering the production capacity of the company at this time.
According to the data compiled by Bloomberg, these preorders almost worth around $800 million for the firm. So if customers do not back off then the company will have a stable flow of revenues eventually.
According to several economists, the batteries manufactured by Tesla will be providing solutions to the climatic changes, allowing individuals to go completely out of the grid in the times to come. The aim of Elon Musk- the chief executive officer of the firm is to make energy efficient and cheaper for the masses. These batteries can be helpful in saving the energy that is obtained from green sources such as solar and wind power and ensure a steady energy supply since the energy that is obtained from other sources has several fluctuations.
Hence, in a nutshell, Tesla Motors and Southern Co. are in the right direction because electric batteries are the need of time. If Tesla lures so many orders for Powerpack then their future will be relatively stable.
It could secure top spot in the midsize truck market, only if the Japanese automaker plays its cards right.
Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) has sounded confident that its 2016 Toyota Tacoma 2016 model, set to be released early next year, will help it to propel in the top spot in the mid-sized truck market. That is great if the company is aware of the methods to play its card right. In today’s fast changing 'globalized' world, nothing is certain – especially when the Japanese automaker has many roadblocks ahead.First, starting with the ‘wow factors’ of the truck, its low drag has made it possible for the vehicle to drive down on the road as smooth as possible, for which credit is rightly given to the company’s engineers, who have certainly made it possible. According to reports, it has the lowest drag coefficient in the entire market segment, which is quite an achievement for Toyota itself, since that translates into improved fuel efficiency.A good deal of attention has been paid towards the ideal approach and departure angles, in which the break over angle is currently attached at 29 degrees and spread 21/31 between the front and the back.Another noticeable aspect is the redesigning of the company’s truck bumper, but Toyota had come up with a very good explanation for that, which makes sense too. New regulations will spring up in the coming few months regarding the safety of pedestrians, which required a radical change in the design of the bumper vehicle and 2016 Tacoma responds to those issues.As mentioned previously, the truck has a high fuel efficiency standards that will help the product ‘penetrate’ into the market, even though there is no final word out from the EPA to lend credence to those claims, making it difficult to know if it will be a market leader for it.The truck engine will be powered by the V6 design, which is not available in any of Toyota’s other models, such as the Lexus, and from the looks of it, it seems to have the potential to take shot past the Chevy Colorado or GMC Canyon for its fuel performance, but it is too early to tell.In addition to the high-powered engine, other internal features of the truck include two types of transmissions, a six-speed automatic gearbox, and a six-speed manual option. Speed manual is preferred because that is where there is more control of the speed of the car to check for fuel consumption for the environment conscious people, but automatic speed should not be ruled out either.More surprises could be in store when the car will be officially launched, so it will not be surprising what else comes out of this 2016 model truck. Toyota’s stock price ended the day at $137.70, down 0.40% from the previous day.
The automakers have successfully topped the list of companies making the most sales in the first fiscal quarter of 2015.
In the most recent Toyota news, it has been seen as a pleasant surprise that the first has managed to get the first position to make the largest sales in the first quarter of the financial year 2015. The total cars that the firm has sold have come around 2.52 million, as per a report submitted by AFP Tokyo. This number has come about to be a massive one considering the kind of sales that the firm has made and it has turned out to be quite a success for the Japanese auto giants. Keeping in the mind the fact that the company on an overall basis witnessed a dip in the demand on the local level, this number of sales carried out has been no doubt commendable.In the report presented by AFP, it has been observed that Toyota cars managed to not only beat German Volkswagen in the process of topping the list, but it also left behind GM Company which is an American firm. The Japanese automakers have made successful sales by being ahead not by a small margin but by a huge difference as Volkswagen has come next to the firm with its sales coming around at 2.49 million. As for General Motors, the firm only managed to sell around 2.4 million cars, securing the third position in making the most sales in the first fiscal quarter of the year.If the past performance of TM sales is taken into consideration, it will be seen that the demand on a general level has seen a decline which is why the sales fell around 2.5% in the quarter as compared to the sales made in the previous one. For the full financial year of 2015, the expected sales are expected to be made around 10.23 million. The sales might be decreasing for the year and the reason given by analysts is that it shows that the Japanese giant is taking all the queries into consideration which arose after the customers faced some safety issues in the cars that they bought from the company.The first time Toyota Company managed to beat all the other companies on the globe, like General Motors and other auto giants, was in 2008 when the first managed to top the list. Due to the natural calamities that hit Japan after that, the firm stumbled and took some time to get back in a position again. However this time around, the firm has shown that it has nothing to fear and a lot to do in the upcoming year, keeping in mind the amazing sales made in the start of 2015.
The automakers are all set to introduce an exciting mobile shop in the state for customers to choose and buy Tesla cars with ease.
Tesla Motors is one of those few companies who has been in the news for quite some time for the unique and tactful techniques that it chooses to carry out for its business activities. The marketing strategies adopted by the automakers have always been highlighted to be one of their kind and quite smart as well. The firm has always surprised its fans by always coming up with something to amuse and this time around, the electric car makers have decided to make it big by planning a campaign through which they will be directly selling their automobiles to the customers. A recent press release has made it evident that the auto giant’s management has announced that the company will be taking its adopted marketing campaign for something useful like being a direct provider of its cars and selling them on a direct basis without a middle man.The first place that has been chosen by Tesla to start selling its hybrid cars has come around to be Santa Barbara, where the company’s first outlet will be made for its valued customers who will be able to visit the place and choose from their favorite cars. The grand opening of the store has been scheduled to take place a day after the Memorial Day, and the store will be quite like the other brick stores owned by the company. The customers who wish to make a transaction will be first taken around the store for a quick tour in which they will be made familiar with what the store has to offer. Later, they can choose accordingly if they like the different parts and components of the Model S. Furthermore, for a better experience, a new Model S will be made available at the store in which the users can take a test drive and get to know the car better.This store will be a mobile store with the ability to spread out like a huge flatbed, as huge as a terminal. According to the most recent reports, the firm is planning to keep their mobile store in the state of Santa Barbara for four weeks before taking it to Hamptons.Coming up with such a store in the United States is an idea not foreign for Tesla as the smart car makers have done the same in the European countries like Denmark and France, around two years back. More importantly, the electric car giants are not the only ones to have a mobile store in the country as many other auto makers have done it in the past.
Fords Motors has recently reported a massive growth in the short interest shares of the company as recorded in the last week of April, 2015. Taking in the consideration the short interest shares of the firm as on the records on April 30 2015, a trade with around 86,671,085 shares was witnessed that showed a significant growth as compared the short interest shares noted down by analysts on April 15, when the trade showed shares at around 80,232,745.
According to a report by American Banking News, around 2.2 percent of the short interest shares from the stock of the car models company have been sold. The average volume of shares, on the other hand, has been recorded to be 28,665,668 while the days to cover ratio has been noted down by the stock index at 3 days.
On the other hand, it was recently seen that Ford Motors’ director, John C. Lichleiter has carried out a huge transaction inside the firm in which he was seen buying around 3,000 shares, increasing his stake in the company by a huge difference. This transaction was done on May, 14 2014 and each share was sold at a price of $15.22.
The whole transaction was recorded to have cost Lichleiter an amount of $45,660.00. This trade of shares between the company and the director of the auto making firm has been recorded in filing by the Securities Exchange Commission as all the trade information of shareholders and investors who have a stake in the company of more than 10% are to report to the SEC if they go through any kind of transaction or trade of their shares.
Quite a lot of analytical firms have covered the Fords stock and granted the firm different ratings in accordance with their analysis. Sterne Agee CRT has analysts that gave the auto company’s stock a ‘buy’ rating along with a target on the share price recorded at $20.00, mentioned in a research report presented on May 3 2015. As for the analysts at Stifel Nicolaus, a ‘hold’ rating has been suggested for the shares of the firm after close inspection. The same analysts have granted a $19.00 price target to the smart car company in the same research analysis. TheStreet analysts have given a ‘buy’ rating to the classic car producers. Moreover, Goldman Sachs has given a ‘hold’ to shares of Fords.
Fords Motors Company was recently seen to announce its quarter earnings on April 28 in which the firm reported EPS that was lower than expectations, coming around at $0.23.
Tesla has several futuristic plans that require cash, however, their current finances are not so satisfactory to make it all happen.
Tesla Motors Inc. is one of the most promising electric car makers that are disrupting the automotive industry at a relatively great pace. The company at this point of time is increasing the number of a project which is relatively more expensive that what it was doing earlier. The company wishes to reign in the electric vehicle industry along with the energy storage but for that they need a stable stream of revenues.The problem which several analyst and skeptics are dealing with at the moment is that will Tesla be successful in breathing life to its dreams or be stuck due to limitations in funding. The company currently has a single electric car that is responsible to help them sail swiftly. According to a consensus, the company currently sales for a quarter across the globe are similar to one-day sales of General Motors Company in the United States.So the question is where is Tesla spending all the hard earned money?Tesla apart from coming up with a new SUV the previous year is also reportedly working towards unveiling “ high volume mass market electric car” which it will call Model 3 in FY17. So in order to have a Model 3 that is relatively cheaper, the company has decided to minimize costs of its batteries that will hinge the launch of the much anticipated Gigafactory plant in Nevada for storage batteries.Apart from this the company seeks to expand its footprints in regions where it is not currently available, therefore, the company is working towards launching Model S in several international markets. For the same reason, the company is spending vast amounts of money to establish the necessary infrastructure required by the company for their electric cars. This includes servicer stations, supercharger networks etc.This year the company has also vowed to pledge $1.5 billion in capital expenditure (CAPEX) almost 25 per cent of this budget was carry forward by Ford Motor Company- the second largest automotive firm that generates 200 times more money in terms of revenues when compared to Tesla Motors.At this point, Tesla has made a vigorous investment in several “growth catalyst” at a time where they are already struggling with finances. This has brought negative criticism for them from several investors and analyst at Wall Street.Hence, in a nutshell, Tesla needs to figure out what it really wants to do in the years to come. The company has extremely futuristic plans, but these plans require money for implementation which the company currently lacks.
The auto making company has many plans lined up for the upcoming quarters in which the launch of Model X car and Gigafactory has gone to take place.
In the most recent quarterly report announcement, Tesla Motors was seen to discuss quite a lot of plans for the coming quarters that the firm is looking forward to carrying out. These plans are deemed to be quite important for the company’s performance, as it will determine where and how the firm is headed forward.
The automakers are looking forward for plans such as the launch of the Model X car that is expected to launch in a few months along with the battery making business that the firm has only recently announced to step into. The Gigafactory, which is being established for the purpose of manufacturing batteries for cars as well as home based usage, is in the process of being launched too.
The Model X car, which is the first electric sports utility car that Tesla (TSLA) is currently working on is almost ready for orders and Elon Musk, the CEO of the smart car making firm, expects the customers to be able to place an order for their Model X Cars by July.
However, the electric car will actually be made available in September of the current year when the deliveries will be taking pace. The CEO of the auto making firm has previously been positive about this new venture of his company in the form of the sports car that is to launch soon and he still seems to be quite excited about it. According to him, this sports vehicle is going to prove as a great car in the SUV industry.
As for the Gigafactory that is being worked upon by Tesla, this other venture of the auto giants is to bring about a huge change in the way things are done in the firm. The battery making plant is expected to produce lithium-ion batteries in a massive number, so much as to break all the records of production in the past years. As per the initial plans of the company regarding the launch of the actual battery cell, it was decided that the first cell will be introduced to the industry in 2017.
However, the hybrid car makers have decided to speed up the process as the management mentioned in the earnings call recently made that now the first battery cell will be launched in 2016, one year before.
On the other hand, the demand for the Model S cars has been constantly increasing as discussed by Elon Musk in the earnings call. Tesla is now looking towards selling around 55,000 Model S and Model X cars by the end of the current quarter.
