Despite closing a research and development center and a satellite office in New York recently, Tesla indicates they are poised to make a significant partnership with Toyota.
Though some of you may be familiar with the partnership
established last month to produce the Electric Rav4, this partnership possibility stands to be worth nearly $900 million more.
While details are still developing, it looks as though -
based on recent earnings reports - that Tesla believes there can be a extremely beneficial.
The
latest from AutoObserver.com:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Auto Observer, 8/3/11
Tesla Says It's Talking $1 Billion Deal With Toyota
Tesla is best known for their electric Roadster sports car and is reportedly working on a sedan model.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announced Wednesday that the Silicon Valley EV maker is negotiating a potential $1 billion deal with Toyota.
In a conference call with analysts, Musk said the just-ended second quarter was the best in Tesla's history, with tremendous demand for the Roadster sports car and the upcoming Model S sedan—both battery-electric vehicles—as well as signing a $100 million deal with Toyota, and "we're in discussions with them for a deal that is an order of magnitude larger than that."
A Tesla official later confirmed to AutoObserver that by "order of magnitude," Musk was stating that the 8-year-old company was discussing a $1 billion deal with the world's largest automaker.
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[[[[[[[[OUR VIEW]]]]]]]]
This could be a very interesting partnership with huge implications on the electric vehicle race. Toyota, who has already done considerably well with their hybrid Prius lineup, could take the definitive lead in the EV race.
What do you all think? Does this put Toyota over the top or does this merely make them a contender?