Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA): Will It Really Build Trucks in Texas?

Don’t hold your breath, Texas
I’m totally willing to believe that Musk has a great idea for an electric truck — the Model S turned out well — but I’m a little skeptical of the idea that Tesla will be building a new factory in Texas any time soon.

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) already has a big factory in Northern California, bought from Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) in 2010. It’s a huge facility, and large portions of it are currently standing unused. The company has lots of room to expand its operations on-site before it will need additional manufacturing space.

Tesla’s sales of its first mass-produced car, the upscale Model S sedan, have been quite good — the company expects to build 20,000 cars this year. But Tesla is still a long way from the production volumes that would require a second factory.

In its factory’s heyday, when it was jointly operated by Toyota and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), it produced 6,000 vehicles a week, or almost 300,000 a year.

Tesla has a long way to go before it hits anything like those numbers. And until it does, I’m skeptical that the company will spend big bucks to build a second factory far from its headquarters. Even in Texas.

The article Will Tesla Motors Really Build Trucks in Texas? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor John Rosevear owns shares of Apple and General Motors. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, General Motors, and Tesla Motors and owns shares of Apple and Tesla Motors.

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