Marriage Between Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) And Daimler AG Ends

German car manufacturer Daimler AG had announced that it will be selling its interest in Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). The two companies would continue to collaborate on projects and Daimler would not halt its components trade with the California based company. Bloomberg reporter Jonathan Ferro spoke about the sale on the channel’s Company News segment.

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)

“Daimler AG says it is receiving about $780 million for the sale of its 3.9% stake,” said Ferro about the deal. The Mercedes Benz manufacturer had said that this development will not affect other relationships with Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). Daimler’s electric car, the Mercedes Benz B-Class, will continue to use Tesla batteries but it is unclear if future electric car models from Daimler will follow the same path. Both Tesla and Daimler have not disclosed the buyer of the stake.

Daimler AG initially owned about 9% stake worth $50 million in Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) back in 2009 when the electric car manufacturer was still a struggling startup desperately in need of capital investment. Over the years, that number had gone down to just under 4% but the value of the stocks stayed on an upward trend. Daimler had announced that it planned to use the cash from the sale to boost its catalog including its pure electric drive car, the Mercedes Benz B-Class. “The German company says it will continue to buy components from Tesla and an electric version of the Mercedes Benz B-Class will be launched in Europe next month,” said Ferro.

Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) (NYSE:TM) was the other company that came to Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s rescue in 2009 and the Japanese automobile company still owns 2.4% stake in Tesla. But the Toyota – Tesla relation suffered due to their opposing views on fuel cells, one which Toyota embraces but Tesla admonishes. Tesla Chief Elon Musk was noted to have said in Tesla’s shareholder meeting held in June that the companies had decided to re-evaluate their differences after a couple of years.


Warren Buffett and BillionairesFree Report: Warren Buffett and 12 Billionaires Are Crazy About These 7 Stocks

Let Warren Buffett, David Einhorn, George Soros, and David Tepper WORK FOR YOU. If you want to beat the low cost index funds by an average of 6 percentage points per year look no further than Warren Buffett’s stock picks. That’s the margin Buffett’s stock picks outperformed the market since 2008. In this free report, Insider Monkey’s market beating research team identified 7 stocks Warren Buffett and 12 other billionaires are crazy about. CLICK HERE NOW