Tesla Model 3 takes over $10bn in pre-orders in first 36 hours

Tesla’s Elon Musk revealed that pre-orders for the company’s new mass-market vehicle surpassed 270,000 in the first 36 hours

Initial orders for Tesla’s new Model S electric sedan have outperformed expectations some way, with the company having clocked over $10bn worth of orders in only the first 36 hours. As the company’s first high volume vehicle and its lowest-cost car to date, Tesla will need to fulfil hundreds of thousands of orders each year if it is to make good on its intentions to become a staple of the auto industry. The 276,000 orders it took on the initial day and a half is as good a start as any.

The figure in question was tweeted by the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, along with a series of design sketches and signs that the response to the new car was more positive than he expected.

It should be said, however, that Musk’s $10.6bn projection is based on an average price of $42,000 per car, far and above the $35,000 base price. What’s more, prospective car owners were asked to put down a refundable $1,000 deposit to reserve a car, which means not all of the orders will translate into sales.

The new Model 3 won’t hit showrooms until late 2017, and, given that the company delivered barely over 50,000 vehicles last year, production will need a fair few upgrades before it finally reaches capacity at 500,000 cars a year. For the time being, the pre-orders go some way towards rebuilding enthusiasm for the brand before an equity offering later this year, now that its share price is 60 percent higher than a 12-month low in February.

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