(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - N.America) The hotly anticipated Model 3 the latest car from the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stable will go on sale from March 31 the electric car manufacturer revealed as it promised it would start turning a profit in 2016.
Entrepreneur Elon Musk who heads Tesla said the California-based company would make its first net profit by the fourth quarter this year.
It plans to invest US$1.5 billion to add capacity and start production at a huge mega battery factory in the Nevada desert.
It came as results for the latest fourth quarter showed increased losses but despite that the market cheered and shares shot up as much as 10% in after hours trading.
The price rise may have been down to the fact that despite the loss of money there has been no let-up in production at the firm
Tesla said it expects to ship 80000 to 90000 Model S and Model X cars in 2016 beating forecasts that the company would only ship about 76000.
But it's not been an easy period for the company.
The firm has been hit by various factors including a slump in the oil price potentially making conventional gasoline (or petrol) cheaper along with general malaise in the global outlook.
There is also a certain amount of uncertainty about the source for all the lithium required to make its batteries.
The Latest Model 3 will be unveiled to the public on March 31 Musk announced to shareholders at the company's quarterly earnings call.
With a price tag of US$35000 half the cost of the previous Model S it is intended to be Tesla's first moderately priced car.
But reportedly that price tag is likely to be reduced further by government subsidies for electric vehicles in place around the world.
The best production estimates have the Model 3 arriving towards the end of 2017.
The group reported a fourth-quarter adjusted loss of 87 cents per share on US$1.75bln in sales. Analysts at Thomson Reuters had expected Tesla to post earnings of 10 cents per share on US$1.79bln revenue.
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