Musk focuses on Model 3 success in Tesla earnings call

Image: ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images

Tesla CEO Elon Musk saved all the drama for his Twitter account during Wednesday’s earnings call. 

It’s been quite the quarter. This past three months saw Musk break down in a New York Times interview, tweet so much that the SEC got involved and sued for fraud, and call a rescue diver a pedophile (and get sued over that, as well). And that’s just the stuff concerning Musk from July through September.

Overall, Tesla blew past expected revenue numbers, bringing in $6.8 billion, far more than the expected $6.33 billion. It also recorded $311 million in net income last quarter, compared to a loss of $619 million a year ago. 

But Musk didn’t gloat as much as you’d expect. He made sure stockholders got updates on car safety, Autopilot upgrades and changes, and factory processes. He choked up a bit while thanking devoted Tesla customers during what he summed up as “a difficult time.”

All the hustling was worth it, as Tesla says it was making an average of 4,300 Models per week. In the last week of the quarter it produced 5,300 cars, hitting Musk’s goal of 5,000 cars per week.

It’s been actually delivering the much-anticipated vehicles that’s gotten messy. Tesla called delivery and logistics “our main challenges.” Musk wants to get deliveries down to 10 days. Currently it takes about 20 days to get from the factory to customer driveways. That’s down from 30 days just a few months ago, Musk said.

Musk stayed on track even when someone asked about the search for a new chairman since he was ousted from the role as part of Tesla’s SEC settlement. He calmly responded that he was “going to restrict questions to operational topics” and moved on to his goal of producing a $35,000 Model 3 within the next six months.

Tesla’s update on its financial situation came on the same day that Consumer Reports members downgraded Tesla’s new-car reliability in the product guide’s Annual Auto Reliability Survey.

Tesla dropped six spots from last year. It’s now the third-worst car brand at slot 27 of 29. Its Model S dropped to “Below Average” and the Model X SUV stayed at “Much-Worse-Than-Average” for reliability. The new sedan, the Model 3, earned an “Average” reliability rating. 

No matter, the Model 3 has been a bright spot for Musk, who proudly promoted its high safety ratings during the earnings call.

He even looked ahead to the mysterious Model Y, which should start production in 2020. Maybe next quarter he’ll divulge more details.