Elon Musk: Tesla Service division has to work at no loss and no profit. That is good.

[Benz]

Service has to be great, because great service will sell cars in the future, as customers will remain with the same brand when they will buy their next car. This is true, we all do acknowledge that. And by saying that Tesla Service has to work at no loss no profit, Elon Musk does really express that he wants that owners of Tesla EV's do experience great service.

My question is, is it possible to verify if the Tesla Service Division has made a loss or a profit? And how much?

At the earnings call maybe?
Or at the annual meeting of shareholders?

 

[Robert.Boston]

My question is, is it possible to verify if the Tesla Service Division has made a loss or a profit? And how much?

At the earnings call maybe?
Or at the annual meeting of shareholders?

No, that isn't how most companies report, and I wouldn't expect Tesla to start reporting functional-area P&L. I'm sure that internally they have excellent information, though.

 

[DonPedro]

I think that you can take this on trust (within reason). This public announcement would have been followed by most Tesla employees. Imagine what it would do to your motivation and loyalty if the CEO of the company you worked for said something like this in public and then did something completely different internally. You would certainly lose respect and loyalty for that company. This happens sometimes in ordinary businesses, of course, but a visionary company like Tesla is totally dependent on loyal and motivated employees who buy into the vision. Unless Elon Musk is a complete idiot, which would be extremely hard to believe, he knows this. The service division will operate non-profit.

Now, there are shades of grey, of course. For instance, loaner car sales will probably be very profitable for Tesla. Only the profit will not be booked in the service department.

 

[dave]

I'm wondering how they can NOT operate at a loss, seeing as the car has no mandatory service. I'm assuming most issues will be warranty repairs, at least for the first 4 years.