Things may finally be turning around for Tesla. After burning through cash for years on end, Tesla finally managed to defy the odds and actually turn a profit last quarter. What’s more, Tesla managed to slowly but surely increase Model 3 production, with the company noting this week that the Model 3 during the September quarter was the “best-selling car in the US in terms of revenue and the 5th best-selling car in terms of volume.” All in all, Tesla’s surprisingly positive quarter couldn’t have come at a better time, especially in light of the drama that followed Elon Musk’s tweet about taking the company private.
The Model 3, though, doesn’t represent the end of Tesla’s automotive ambitions. Far from it, the company over the next few years plans to introduce the Tesla Semi and the speed demon that is the next-gen Roadster. Additionally, the company has plans to start production on a crossover version of the Model 3 known as the Model Y.
Amid speculation that Model Y production will begin in November of 2019, Musk during Tesla’s earnings conference call yesterday cleared a few items up. First and foremost, Musk noted that Tesla is aiming to begin volume Model Y production in 2020.
Further, Musk said that he just recently approved the Model Y prototype for production, a statement which suggests that we might see a grand unveiling sooner rather than later.
“So we’ve made significant progress on the Model Y,” Musk said. “So in fact, I approved the prototype into production recently. It will be 2020 before that’s in volume production. But we made great progress there.”
Though early reports claimed that the Model Y would be built upon a brand new platform, Tesla — for the sake of profitability — will not go down that path. Touching on this point late last year, Musk said that the “Model Y will, in fact, be using substantial carry over from Model 3 in order to bring it to market faster” and that it will “have relatively low technical and production risk as a result.”
