Sina Technology Hua Zijian

In the early hours of October 21, Tesla reported third-quarter results for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

Tesla Motors reported record third-quarter revenue of $13.757 billion, up from a year earlier, and net profit attributable to common shareholders was $1.618 billion, up 389 percent from $1.142 billion in the previous quarter.

Nine consecutive quarters of earnings, five consecutive quarters of record revenue, and two consecutive quarters of earnings of more than $1 billion, the results are the best in Tesla's history, and the release of the possibility of continued high growth.

The pioneer of new energy vehicles has once again validated benign financial models for "Tesla disciples", which is a good thing for China's new car makers, nor is it a good thing.

　　Model-nbsp;3 and Model-nbsp;Y are growth drivers

The third quarter of fiscal 2019 was Tesla's first profit, closely tied to model.com.3. From the first Model-nbsp;3 in October 2017 to the first Delivery of Model-nbsp in China in February 2019, and the first Chinese-made Model-nbsp;3 in January 2020, the car has become Tesla's main selling model.

Today, the car is the best-selling model in the history of electric vehicles. Tesla can sell about 24.5 Model 3s per hour, according to LeaseLoco. About 215,000 Model 3s can be sold each year. That number is expected to continue to grow in 2021, as Tesla is expected to sell nearly 900,000 vehicles by 2021, about half of which are Model 3.

Tesla's third-quarter results showed total vehicle production of 237823 vehicles, up 64 percent from 145036 a year earlier. Production of the Model S and Model X was down 47 per cent year-on-year, while production of model 3 and Model Y models was 228882, up 79 per cent from 128044 in the same period last year.

Tesla Motors' total vehicle deliveries in the third quarter were 241391, up 73% from 139593 a year earlier. Among them, Deliveries of model S and Model X were down 39 per cent year-on-year, while deliveries of Model 3 and Model Y models were 232102, up 87 per cent from 124318 in the same period last year.

At both ends of the production and sales spectrum, the combination of Tesla Model-nbsp;3 and Model-nbsp;Y maintained a full lead.

The Model-nbsp;Y is Tesla's second best-selling model after Model-nbsp;3, which has only been on sale for 18 months, but has overtaken Model-nbsp/3 as Tesla's most popular vehicle, with an average annual sales of 100,000 units, equivalent to 11.4 vehicles sold per hour.

Tesla's main revenue stream, auto sales, crossed the $10 billion mark for the first time, reaching $11.672 billion, up from $7,346 million a year earlier and $9.874 billion in the previous quarter, spurred by two of the best-selling models, Model 3 and Model nbsp; Y.

Tesla has decided to continue expanding production of its best-selling models. Tesla said it expects vehicle deliveries to grow by an average of 50 per cent a year over the next few years. To this end, it is continuing to expand the capacity of the Shanghai superfactory and build new capacity at the super plants in Texas and Berlin, Germany. The Shanghai plant, which produces Model 3 and Model snbsp;Y, will produce the first Model Y models at its plants in Austin, Texas, and Berlin, Germany, by the end of this year.

It also means that Tesla will continue to focus its growth hopes on the Model 3 and Model-nbsp;Y models in the future.

According to auto industry analysts, Tesla's example has shown that a new car manufacturer must have a best-selling model as a support to ensure positive operation, both in the brand and financial model, can have a positive impact. Tesla's experience is also a good inspiration for China's new car makers.

　　What Can China Learn from New Cars?

It also started out by making cars, but Tesla's business outside of car sales is already large.

Excluding car sales, Tesla reported revenue of $385 million from its car rental business in the third quarter, $806 million from its power generation and storage business and $894 million from its services and other businesses.

Revenue from three segments outside the automotive sales business accounted for 15.16 percent of quarterly revenue. At present, China's new cars rely on car sales revenue, such as Weilai in the second quarter of the car sales revenue of 93.65 percent, Xiaopeng car 95.3 percent, the ideal car as high as 97.2 percent.

Insufficient diversification of income is one of the problems of new cars in China, and the second is the old-fashioned loss, at present, China's new cars still do not see the possibility of profitability.

Tesla has also been in the midst of consecutive losses, but has been profitable for the past nine quarters since making a profit in the third quarter of 2019. Tesla posted record profits in the third quarter of 2021.

Tesla's GAAP operating profit was $2 billion in the third quarter of 2021, resulting in an operating margin of 14.6 percent, according to the results. Non-GAAP net profit (excluding share payments) was $2.1 billion, a record high.

For New Cars in China, this shows that profitability is not impossible. But China's new car makers, which are still losing money, are losing ground to continue losing money in the face of nine consecutive quarters of profits at Tesla.

Tesla said operating profit rose sharply year-on-year, largely due to higher auto production and lower costs. The increase of production and sales scale and the reduction of cost are complementary things, and the scale increase helps to reduce the cost, reduce the cost and feed the scale.

Since the launch of the Chinese-made Model-nbsp;3, prices have fallen by about 100,000 yuan, with the latest price of 235,900 yuan, and Tesla has launched a 270,000 yuan version in less than a year since it was delivered domestically this year.

At annualized sales, Tesla is expected to sell more than 1 million vehicles this year, about twice as many as in 2020, meaning it has crossed another threshold and distanced itself from many of its followers.