USA - Tesla sales in the fourth quarter of 2013 were the highest in company history by a significant margin

Tesla sales in the fourth quarter of 2013 were the highest in company history by a significant margin. With almost 6,900 vehicles sold and delivered, Tesla exceeded prior guidance by approximately 20%. A higher than expected number of cars was manufactured as a result of an excellent effort by the Tesla production team and key suppliers, particularly Panasonic.

The two key drivers of demand were the superlative safety record of the Model S and great performance under extremely cold conditions.

Safety Record

Tesla remains the only manufacturer with a perfect safety record of zero deaths or serious, permanent injuries ever. Including the Roadster, Tesla vehicles have now been on the road for almost six years in 31 countries with almost 200 million miles driven to date. Despite dozens of high speed collisions, the driver and passengers have always been protected. This is Tesla’s proudest achievement.

Independent testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) awarded the Tesla Model S a 5 star safety rating overall and in every subcategory without exception. Of all vehicles tested, including every major make and model approved for sale in the United States, the Model S set a new record for the lowest likelihood of injury to occupants. While the Model S is a sedan, it also exceeded the safety score of all SUV’s and minivans.

Excellent Cold Weather Performance

Due to the precision of its electric powertrain, the Model S has outstanding traction control relative to the much higher latency and inertia of a gasoline powertrain. As a result, it is able to perform better on snow and ice than many all-wheel drive gasoline cars, as shown in this Tesla produced video:

TESLA, welcomed to London with flair and style.

London Store marks the arrival of Model S in the UK, Model S to be priced from £49,900*

Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) has now opened its first retail design store in the UK at London’s Westfield Shopping Centre in White City, one of the capital’s most popular shopping destinations. The new store features interactive displays and design studios enabling more and more people to design their own Model S and learn all about the award winning and critically acclaimed electric vehicle.

The opening was marked by Tesla Motors’ Co-Founder and CEO Elon Musk, who hosted a special opening evening for UK customers:

“Tesla is taking the UK market very seriously, and there are more stores and service centres to come. We’re also going to establish a Supercharger network so Model S customers will be able to drive long distances anywhere in the UK using our network for free, forever. The first Supercharger will be energised next quarter and we’ll aspire to have the entire country covered by end of next year. Most importantly, we are hard at work with Right Hand Drive Model S, and we aim to deliver the first one by the end of March 2014.”

See opening video here

Model S and Pricing Announcement for the UK

Model S is the world’s first premium saloon to be built from the ground up as an electric vehicle, meticulously engineered to elevate the public’s expectations of what a premium saloon can be. The five-door premium saloon competes with the top cars in its class in spaciousness, handling and style, yet produces zero tailpipe emissions. Because there is no internal combustion engine or transmission tunnel, the interior of the car allows for additional luggage space in the front of the vehicle and one of the most spacious cabins in its class.

The heart of Model S is its efficiently-packaged electric powertrain that delivers a superior driving experience while setting a new NEDC record for electric vehicle range of 310 Miles. Model S comes with two battery options – 60 kWh and 85 kWh. The battery’s floor-mounted position gives Model S an incredible low centre of gravity and ideal weight distribution for exhilarating performance and superior handling. Model S has many similar features, including immediate responsiveness, instant torque and smooth acceleration that made the Tesla Roadster famous.

Following the launch of the new London Store Tesla has now announced that the official on-the-road price for Model S in the UK will start from £49,900*.

Aside from the competitive starting price of Model S within the luxury saloon segment, there are numerous financial benefits applied to Model S as an electric vehicle that should be considered that  affect the “total cost of ownership”, making Model S even more compelling in the UK. These include incentives such as zero showroom tax, zero Vehicle Exercise Duty (road tax) and exemption from London’s Congestion Charge1. Model S owners can also look to save thousands of pounds in fuel cost over the life of their car with there being no more expensive trips to the petrol station; instead Model S can simply be plugged in and charged from any electrical outlet.

UK residents who purchase Model S as a company car can also benefit from a 0% Benefit-In-Kind (BIK) rate until April 2015, after which the BIK is set to a rate of 5%.  Compared to the standard BIK rates of 24-28% for a typical premium ICE saloon, this incentive helps make Model S even more attractive to corporate clients.

*Price quoted is for the 60kWh Model S after £5000 deduction from the UK Plug-in grant which Model S is eligible (inclusion of Model S in this incentive is in progress)

1.Congestion Charge exemption subject to registration with TFL and £10 annual fee.

Tesla's Model S becomes NORWAY's best selling car in September

Tesla Motor's all-electric Model S became the top-selling car in Norway last month, with drivers also paying a premium to buy the sports car second-hand to avoid having to wait five months for a new one, dealers said.

The high performance Tesla S had a market share of 5.1 percent in Norway last month, accounting for 616 of the 12,168 new cars sold and pushing the conventionally-powered Volkswagen Golf into second place with a 4.6 percent share, according to official figures.

"There has been an enormous demand for this car and it doesn't seem to stop. We have a lot of customers on the waiting list right now," said Joar Tenfjord, the head of Tesla's dealership in Bergen, Norway's second largest city.

Electric cars have been especially popular in Norway because of generous subsidies, free parking, government-provided re-charging stations, the right to use express lanes on highways and exemptions from tolls.

"You get great value for your money with the Model S in Norway," Tenfjord said. "It is a spacious car and it is also environmentally friendly."

A new Tesla Model S costs $110,000-$117,000 in Norway's notoriously expensive car market, well above the $70,000 it costs in the United States, but existing owners willing to part with their car could get $130,000 for them, Tenfjord said.

The Tesla S went on sale in Europe in August. The model has a top speed of 200 kph (125 mph) and acceleration of 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) in 5.4 seconds. Its 483 km (300 miles) range outstrips other all-electric cars.

Tesla has already sold 14,300 units of the Model S in the United States so far this year.

Nice profit

Some drivers in Norway are now willing to pay as much as $20,000 extra to get the new Model S from existing owners. Currently only 12 of the new Teslas are available on Finn.no, Norway's top classified Web site with asking prices of up to $130,000.

"I have noticed that some people make a very nice profit on these cars," Tenfjord said. "The demand is extreme."

One of those second hand buyers, 27-year-old financial consultant Anders Langset, said a regular car with similar performance and engine size could have cost him up to 2 million crowns ($330,000) because of the punitive taxes Norway's government levies on cars with big engines.

"I paid more for a second-hand car than I would have paid if I bought it when it was new, but the demand is so high that I am sure I would get my money back and then some if I sold it again today," Langset said.

A BMW 5 series sells in the $100,000-$115,000 range in Norway, below the Model S, but its internal combustion engine is less powerful.

Cars with conventional engines of similar power to the Tesla model would typically retail for $200,000 and above as taxes are levied on engine size. Some carmakers sell their vehicles with smaller engines in Norway than the rest of Europe to keep them affordable.

Meanwhile no immediate effect has been seen on Norwegian demand for the Model S after a video emerged last week showing a Model S on fire after an accident near Seattle, which slightly dented this year's meteoric rise in Tesla's share price.

"We have had some questions from customers but it appears to have been a one-off and it has in no way reduced demand," Tenfjord said.

Tesla said the fire stemmed from a "highly uncommon occurrence" after the car was driven over a "large, oddly shaped metal object" which punched a hole through the quarter-inch armor plate protecting the lithium-ion battery pack, and that had it been a gasoline-powered car "the result could have been far worse."