Tesla Model X Will Double Company’s Sales: Elon Musk

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Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Motors, believes that the Model X sports utility vehicle (SUV) will help drive the next leg of growth for the company. He believes that the Model X will double the sales volume of the electric car manufacturers.

“During an interview with CNBC, Musk said, “With the Model X there’s a potential to double Tesla’s volume because the demand for SUVs and sedans is about equal. That would suggest that if the Model X is well received, it would be a doubling of Tesla’s volume.”

Stifel Nicolaus analyst James Albertine previously suggested that the Model X could boost the stock price of Tesla Motors to as much as $400 per share. He believed that the Model X would be a huge success for the electric car manufacturer.

Tesla Model X production

When asked if there is any update on the Model X, Must replied, “No. I think everything is pretty much the same as when I gave the Tesla shareholder conference.”

He added that Tesla Motors expect to ship the Model X by the end of summer. According to him, they are uncertain as to how long it would take the company to ramp up its production for the electric SUV.

The launching of the Model X was delayed for more than a year now since Tesla’s initial announcement in 2012. Some Wall Street Analysts recently visited the company’s production facility in Fremont, and they are positive that the electric car manufacturer will be able to launch the Model X on its target schedule.

Morgan Stanley estimated that Tesla Motors would be able to roll out less than 100 Model X units in the third quarter and around 3,000 units by the end of the year.

On the other hand, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimated that Tesla Motors would be able to ship around 5,000 Model S units this year.

Tesla Motors already received 20,000 pre-orders for the Model X. The electric car manufacturer’s reservation fee for the electric SUV is $5,000.

Tesla Motors vehicle sales target

The electric car manufacturer aims to sell as much as 55,000 vehicles this year. The company is depending on the Model X to achieve its target sales volume.

Earlier this month, Tesla Motors reported that its Model S deliveries increased 52% to 11,507 units during the second quarter. The electric car manufacturer already delivered a total of 21,552 Model S units during the first six months of this year—approximately 40% of Tesla’s target sales volume for 2015.

Last week, Dan Dolev, an analyst at Jefferies LLC said there is a demand for new vehicles.

Musk on Falcon 9 explosion

When asked about the cause of the Falcon 9 explosion, Musk told CNBC, “I think we need to understand exactly what went wrong. Know what needs to be done to fix it and then launch. We will be very deliberate about. We want to take a thorough review of the data and see if there were any near misses.”

“Our goal is to have the most reliable rocket ever because obviously this is going to be launching astronauts in a couple of years,” added Musk.

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