Tesla to raise $1.5 bn in bond offering to fund Model 3 sedan

Tesla announced on Monday that it intends to raise about $1.5 billion in a bond offering, as the US luxury electric automaker seeks to fund the production of its new Model 3 sedan.

Shares of Tesla have risen 67 per cent this year and ticked down 0.49 per cent to close at $355.17 on Monday after the announcement, Xinhua reported.

The debt offering marks Tesla's debut in the junk bond market.

Moody's is rating the bond B3 with a stable outlook and Standard & Poor's assigned a "B-" rating for the bond issue.

Tesla said in a press release that it intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to further strengthen its balance sheet during this period of rapid scaling with the launch of Model 3, and for general corporate purposes.

While Tesla has received more than 1,800 reservations per day for the Model 3 since its launch in late July, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that he's working on "something special" for early reservation holders.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a lot more in store than the latest Model 3

After Tesla reported earnings on Wednesday, Elon Musk cracked open the lid on his box of secrets.

While most investors focused on rising costs and execution risk as he prepares for his most important product launch, the CEO dropped a pile of hints about what new adventures may be in store for the darling of America’s electrified future. Here are some noteworthy nuggets.

Model 3 is ‘close to the bullseye’

As Tesla approaches the July launch of its first mass-market car, Musk provided details that may assuage nervous investors (and reservation holders). The newest Schuler press line has been powered on, paint shop prep is complete, the welding and assembly lines are coming together, and there have been no major hiccups with the test cars. “It’s been pretty close to the bullseye,” Musk said. “I don’t know anything that would prevent us from starting production in July and exceeding 5,000 units a week by the end of the year.”

The Model Y is coming in 2019

Tesla plans to launch its follow-on car to the Model 3, a compact SUV called the Model Y, in late 2019 or 2020. Musk said the Y will be built on an entirely new platform from the 3, which surprised a number of analysts and may be partly responsible for the stock falling 5 per cent on Thursday. Building a new vehicle from scratch costs more and takes longer than a more subtle redesign, but Musk said doing so will allow Tesla to dramatically increase the rate of production with a new level of robotic manufacturing.

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