FIN 516 Week 5 IPO Paper; Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors IPO According to the company’s website, “Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 by a group of engineers in Silicon Valley who wanted to prove that electric cars could be better than gasoline-powered cars. With instant torque, incredible power, and zero emissions, Tesla’s products would be cars without compromise. Each new generation would be increasingly affordable, helping the company work towards its mission: to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable transport.”1 While the company is a motor vehicle company, they cross over into the technology industry with their forward thinking and cutting edge technology in the energy fields. From their 10-K report, “We believe the core competencies of our company are powertrain engineering, vehicle engineering and innovative manufacturing. Our core intellectual property is contained within our electric powertrain and the ability to design a vehicle, which capitalizes on the uniqueness of an electric powertrain. Our electric powertrain consists of the following: battery pack, power electronics, motor, gearbox and the control software, which enables the components to operate as a system. We designed each of these major elements for our Tesla Roadster and Model S and plan to use much of this technology in Model X, Model 3, our future electric vehicles and powertrain components that we build for other manufacturers. Our powertrain and battery pack have a modular design, enabling future generations of electric vehicles and our stationary storage applications to incorporate a significant amount of this technology. Further, our http://www.teslamotors.com/aboutpowertrain is very compact and contains far fewer moving parts than the internal combustion powertrain. These features enable us to adapt it for a variety of applications, including our future vehicles and any powertrain components we build for other manufacturers.”2 From the company’s website, “Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable transport.”3 To me, this indicates that Tesla isn’t just another car manufacturer that wants to continue to produce cars in the same fashion that we know today. I believe that their technology and engineering will have a profound effect in the next 20-30 years. Tesla is classified in the Consumer Goods sector and the Auto Manufacturers industry. The company employs a total of 10,161 employees nation