Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Signs of a Downturn - Upheaval at Tesla

What's new at Tesla?  5 items, apparently -

1. Elon Musk has kicked out Ze'ev Drori and become CEO himself.  Drori, of course, was brought in by Elon and his gang after they kicked out founder Martin Eberhard.  These are, of course, all signs of a stable company.  Want some more signs of stability?

elon musk tesla

2. There are rumors that Tesla is looking for another $100 Million in financing.  This is a complete rumor, so lets not think too much about this.  After all, Tesla is very stable, as shown by...

red tesla

3. They're about to have layoffs.  Ooh.  That isn't good.  As I had written earlier, these are the same guys who were about to open a new manufacturing plant in San Jose.  I'm not sure what's going to happen to those plans (although they are going to rely on funding from the Governator and others for that).   Per Valleywag, a tipster says about half the staff is going to be asked to leave, but company officials are begging to differ.

4. But in another ominous sign, their proposed engineering center in Detroit now seems to be gone.  Hmm.  That is sounding a little less stable.  So maybe this helps...

5. Tesla's Model S Sedan seems to have been delayed.  Indications are that it will launch mid-2011.... which sounds like never. 

tesla motors logo

Well, hopefully the girdle tightening helps Tesla survive and thrive. 

No comments: