If you could design your own electric car, what kind of vehicle would you want? Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) already offers a sedan, it’s planning on bringing out its own SUV next year, and the company is not planning on stopping there. At yesterday’s BusinessInsider IGNITION conference Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said the company is working on something else.
Markets for the electric car and for the pickup truck appear to be separate, but Elon Musk is willing to accept the challenge. He says that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is planning to build a pickup truck. Investors shouldn’t expect the vehicle to land too soon, however.
Tesla Motors pickup truck
Elon Musk said that the Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) pickup truck might be made by the company in five years. He also said that the design of the vehicle would probably follow the outline set by the Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s F-Series.
The Ford F150 is the single best selling vehicle in the United States. The pickup market is a significant part of the American automobile industry, and Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) could do well by getting into the market, and it may help the company with one of the biggest issues it faces in the short and medium terms.
Tesla Motors diversification
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has a product problem. No matter how successful a single product like the Tesla Model S is, a lack of diversification creates risks for a company. Brand stewardship is a high priority at Tesla, but that may not help if misfortune hits the company’s luxury sedan. In order to safeguard itself Tesla needs to diversify in the coming years.
That path is being followed in a limited way right now. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is planning on launching a Sports Utility Vehicle some time next year. Increasing the number of model types in the company’s stable is a surefire way of decreasing the chances that a disaster will kill the company.
Everything is leading up to the release of the Tesla Model E right now, however, so a plethora of different types of electric vehicles is unlikely in the coming three years. Once the Generation III mass market vehicle is released, the company will be able to diversify further and take advantage of other market opportunities.
