A guy I know is a retired auto consultant who has worked for VAG, Volvo etc at a high level. He mentioned that Volkswage, Porsche et al calculate margin differently from Tesla. Now I don't recall details, but is point was that one can't really compare the numbers straight off. Sorry I can't be more specific but HTH.
Having worked a a consultant for a number of manufacturers, including ones from Germany, Italy, US, Japan and Korea plus small ones from some other countries I have a perspective on such issues. Without getting too deeply into details there are several ways in which margin calculations, warranty costs, distribution costs, capital expenditures and some other costs differ. Some of them are:
Research and development- some use Tier One suppliers extensively, thus outsource much development to suppliers, and in turn repay through supplier pricing. This varies from complete vehicle production from companies such as Magna and Valmet. This tends to be low volume or specialist vehicles. Porsche, VW, BMW, Daimler and FCA have all done this extensively. Normally Gross Margins shrink but Capex shrinks too and time to market is often lower. Sometimes actual production costs are lower, sometimes higher, depending on many factors.
Distribution policies- these can be very hard to find in accounting policies and sometimes are deliberately obscured. Some recognise sales when vehicles are completed and loaded for shipment to distributors. Some recognise sales when vehicles are delivered to dealers. Some use a mixture. There are nearly endless permutations of timing and conditions for recognising sales. At least one manufacturer recognises sales when a firm order is received and a vehicle is produced, regardless of whether it has entered shipment or not. Tesla is unique in that the recognise a partial sale when the vehicle has been titled to the end purchaser, but they amortise added features such as EAP and FSD only when the features have been delivered. hat policy by Tesla is the primary reason Tesla inventory days on hand appears to be larger than competitors. If one adds dealers and distributors and manufacturer DOH together (assuming one has all that data) one can compare Tesla with others. Further, Tesla holds loaners, service vehicles and trade in vehicles in inventory. No other manufacturer does that, so Tesla DOH appears larger again.
This list of differences goes on quite a long distance. These two, however, are the largest factors.
As an added point, Tesla does have one major Tier One relationship that closely resembles that of Magna Steyr (Magna Austria) with BMW and Daimler, specifically. The GF arrangements with Panasonic are deeply integrated risk sharing deals that help Tesla reduce capital cost and manufacturing complexity. Tesla directly is involved with raw materials sourcing, among other things. As usual with such arrangements the disclosures do not allow 100% transparency.
