According to Musk, “the road ahead is very difficult” because its products remain unaffordable for most people and it’s up against a large established industry.
The challenge for Tesla is to start producing its Model 3 Sedan in larger numbers and at a market price of around $35k - only then will the company be seen as having a long term future.
It’s certainly been a tough 12 months for the company with production issues and Musk’s misleading tweets about taking the company private costing it dear.
Despite that the company has made significant manufacturing design improvements and appears to have sold almost as many cars in 2018 as it had in its entire history. It has also managed its first profit and a report from Reuters suggests that the company is in discussions with Tianjun Lishan to supply batteries for the company's new electric vehicles to be built in Shanghai.
Musk said that: “While we have made great progress, our products are still too expensive for most people. Tesla has only been producing cars for about a decade and we’re up against massive, entrenched competitors.”
And those competitors are not standing still. They are looking to spend $300billion on electric vehicles and batteries over the next few years.
Could Tesla be running out of road?
