said late on Monday that its shares priced at $17, raising $226.1 million for the electric car maker.
The closely watched Palo Alto company's company's shares get their first test on the open market on Tuesday when they trade on NASDAQ with the TSLA symbol.
Tesla sold 13.3 million shares instead of the 11.1 million originally planned and exceeded its previous estimated range of between $14 and $16 a share.
The company plans to use the money to help it bridge its offerings from the flashy two-door $109,000 Roadster that was its first car to a $50,000 Model S sedan that it plans to make at the former New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont.
The company has yet to make a profit and doesn't expect to until after it begins selling the sedan in volume. It has lost $290.2 million since it was founded in 2003.
The IPO is expected to trigger a $50 million investment by Toyota Motor Corp., which previously ran the NUMMI plant in a 25-year partnership with General Motors Co. GM pulled out of the plant last summer and Toyota made its last Corolla there on April 1.
Tesla also has the backing of the U.S. government, with a $465 million loan.
In addition to the Toyota plan to buy shares, Tesla gave its underwriters the option to buy 1.995 million more shares under certain conditions. Goldman, Sachs & Co. is underwriting the IPO along with Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities.
Read more: Tesla raises $226.1M at $17 IPO price - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. About Tesla Motors
Our Company
At the core of Tesla Motors is the belief that an electric car need not be a driving sacrifice. We have brought the best of the automotive and technology worlds together to permanently bury the image of an electric car as a step backwards in performance, efficiency, or design. Our key technology is the 100% electric powertrain, which propels us in the present and simultaneously establishes a foundation for our future models. We set out to forever alter perceptions of electric vehicles and to make electric cars a viable alternative. We have produced a car that is at once beautiful and exciting to drive, along with being the most efficient production automobile on the planet.
Freedom of Choice
The very definition of automobile is freedom of motion. The word itself originated as a literal way to define a vehicle that moves under its own power without need for another vehicle – such as a horse or locomotive. Today the definition of automobile often includes association with an internal combustion engine. We’re here to change this definition one car at a time. The world will once again use the automobile to transport us free of convention. Tesla Motors will be part of this liberation. The Tesla Roadster moves not only under its own power, but ultimately free of the existing and increasingly troublesome petroleum-based infrastructure.
Passion for the Future
For 130,000 years humans looked upon the moon with wonder and speculation. On July 20, 1969 we walked on its surface. Sixty years ago a computer was comprised of more than 17,000 vacuum tubes and weighed 30 tons. Today one can place many times this same computing power in a jeans pocket. The end result of technological achievement is often so impressive that we forget the drive of the innovators behind the solution. While we are a technology company, we deliver our automotive innovation with enthusiasm and passion for design. We are engineers and designers. We are drivers and racers. We are executives. We are Tesla Motors.
Milestone Now
The Tesla Roadster is no longer a vision. Our automobile is not merely a claim. The Roadster is our first production car, and will not be our last. With a range of 244 miles on a single charge and a supercar level 3.7 second 0-60 mph acceleration time, the Roadster Sport is proof that the combination of passion and technology can deliver a truly groundbreaking automobile. The Tesla Roadster is just the beginning. We will use what we have created in the Roadster as a foundation for models to come. The 30-ton computer will easily fit in your pocket. The moon will not seem so far away. The car you drive will liberate you from convention. That car will be a Tesla.
Our Mission
Tesla Motors designs and sells high performance, super efficient electric cars. Tesla Motors cars join style, acceleration, and handling with advanced technologies that make them the quickest and the most energy-efficient cars on the planet
Tesla Motors uses proprietary technology, world-class design and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes to create a new generation of highway capable electric vehicles. We utilize an innovative distribution model based on Company-owned sales and service centers. This approach allows us to maintain the highest levels of customer experience and benefit from short customer feedback loops to ensure our customer needs are fulfilled. We believe our operational infrastructure provides us with a competitive advantage compared to traditional automobile manufacturers.
We introduced our first vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, in 2008. The Model S, our four-door sedan, has a planned release in 2012.
Tesla Motors will offer up its shares to the public for the first time on Tuesday, testing investors' faith in a company that has proven it can make functional and stunning electric cars but has never had a profitable quarter.
Tesla, which will trade on Nasdaq under the symbol "TSLA," priced its shares late Monday at $17 each, above the target range of $14 to $16. That allowed Tesla to raise more than $226 million in the IPO
PayPal founder Elon Musk's seven-year old auto company lost $55.7 million last year and $260.7 million since its inception. The company has performed so poorly from a financial standpoint that Musk recently said he lost his entire personal fortune on Tesla.
But investors are giddy about the Palo Alto, Calif.-based automaker's initial public offering, prompting Tesla on Monday to increase the number of shares it plans to offer by nearly a fifth to 13.3 million.
Much of the excitement is pegged to Tesla's launch of the Model S, an electric sedan that the company says will sell for a minimum of $50,000 in 2012. That's much more reasonable and practical for most consumers than the vehicle that Tesla currently sells, the $100,000
The electric automaker plans to acquire a plant where it will produce 20,000 new Model S sedans each year starting in 2012. That's a significant increase from the 1,063 Roadsters it has sold -- total. But until 2012, Tesla said it will continue to pile up hefty losses.
Apple iPhone 3GS, Black (AT&T)
"Investors that are interested in Tesla know that it's going to continue to burn cash until it gets Model S into commercial production," said Matt Therian, an analyst at IPO research firm Renaissance Capital in Greenwich, Conn. "Tesla investors are really looking out to 2012, with their investment very much tied to whether they think 20,000 is a conservative or an aggressive number
Nissan will sell the electric Leaf and General Motors is ready to bring the hybrid-electric Chevrolet Volt to market next year -- a year ahead of the Model S.
The Nissan Leaf is set to get 100 miles to the charge with just a $25,000 price tag (after tax credits). The Volt will get 40 miles to the charge, but will also have a gas engine, and it will be sold for about $35,000.
The Tesla Model S will have a variety of range options from 160 miles to 300 miles per charge, but at double the price of the Leaf, Tesla will likely remain a niche automaker for some time.
What's more, Tesla has just 12 dealerships to sell and service its vehicles, compared with more than 1,000 Nissan dealers and thousands of Chevy dealerships in the United States.
"I'm struggling to see what Tesla's unique selling point is, to be frank," said MacKenzie.
But Tesla owns an undeniable "cool" factor that its competitors would love to have. The ultra-slick Roadster has a range of about 244 miles per charge, according to the company -- the first production electric vehicle to get more than 200 miles on a single charge. And it does zero to 60 miles per hour in just 3.9 seconds -- better than most similarly priced sports cars. Tesla CEO Elon Musk To Sell Nearly One Million Personal Shares At IPOThe additional shares are being sold by existing shareholders looking to cash out at the IPO, including Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk who is selling an additional 909,212 of his personal shares. Other selling stockholders include VantagePoint Venture Partners (238,748 shares), Bay Area Equity Fund (88,586), Westly Capital Partners (72,625), Compass Venture Partners (22,931), as well as friends and family like Elon’s brother (and OneRiot CEO) Kimball Musk (12,692). Tesla itself won’t make any additional money from the bump in shares, but more shares will be available to the public. (Watch Out )This stock pick should not be a long term risk , get in early and get out when you get your pop early in the game .... do not buy and hold !!!!
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