Tesla crushes rivals with first full year profit, redefines future of car industry

The Driven

Electric vehicle maker Tesla has posted its first full year profit – not just beating analyst expectations but also cementing its position as the most valuable auto-maker in the world, and highlighting the huge advance it holds over legacy car makers.

The key numbers being watched by analysts were revenue and profit, and Tesla easily beat them both- posting $US6 billion in revenue, net income of $US104 million, and a small profit of US50c a share.

But beyond the simple financial numbers was another indicator that underlines the significance of this story – a graph that shows that over the first six months of 2020 Tesla sales increased from the same period a year earlier, while for every other leading manufacturer they fell significantly.

Nothing can better explain the monumental shift that is happening in global auto markets. Increasing numbers of onsumers are holding off on buying new petrol and diesel cars, but they are buying EVs.

The sales figures from all key global markets show a slump in petrol and diesel sales – driven mostly by the impacts of Covid-19.

The sales figures in the table above from all key global markets show a slump in petrol and diesel sales – driven mostly by the impacts of Covid-19.

But amid this, the sales of electric vehicles, and Tesla’s in particular, have held strong. And the market is beginning to understand that this is just as much a tech story than an auto industry story.

To read the full version of this story – and view the photo gallery – on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…

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