#TeslaModelY

At the dawn of the new year, it seemed Tesla was finding its groove. Production flowing well, some past headaches ironed out, a Chinese plant up and running, a potentially lucrative crossover ready to go, and back-to-back black ink on its quarterly earnings reports.

Hoping to safeguard its future, the automaker is now prepared to furlough workers for the coming month and slash salaries thereafter.

Some 12 years and one month ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk delivered the firm’s first electric vehicle… to himself. Fast-forward to today, and electric vehicle are sprouting from automakers the world over — including the “legacy” automakers Teslaphiles so often deride as out of touch.

On Monday, the company that opened the floodgates for EV proliferation marked a production milestone once thought of as inconceivable: its millionth car.

Tesla’s Model Y has already started production, scheduled to reach consumers by the end of March, but until today there was no official range rating. That’s all changed now, and those standing in line for the automaker’s new compact crossover have reason to smile.

In a recent earnings report that, unlike Nissan’s, actually pleased investors, Tesla claimed its new Model Y crossover would see its first U.S. deliveries in March of this year. Great news for antsy reservation holders, but some worry the appearance of America’s Favourite Bodystyle will have a harmful impact on the automaker’s current best-seller, the Model 3.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no stranger to sparking conversation — along with lawsuits, SEC probes, and stock fluctuations — with his social media missives. Tuesday night was no different.

In a two-word Twitter message backed up with a two-item poll, Musk suggested Tesla’s next domestic assembly plant will take up residence in the Lone Star State.

Tesla’s fourth-quarter 2019 earning report, released Wednesday night, gave analysts and investors what they’d been looking for. In the midst of a global production ramp-up, the electric automaker posted a second consecutive quarterly profit ⁠— offering compelling news about a new model in the process.

That vehicle is the Model Y, a Model 3-based compact crossover that’s apparently already rolling off the assembly line in Fremont, California.

After claiming, via official channels, that its Nevada Gigafactory would likely become the site of Model Y production, Tesla seems to have changed its mind on where to build its upcoming crossover.

During a weekend podcast, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said production of the vehicle will likely take place where all other Teslas are built. It might not even require a tent.

Perhaps to give journalists a taste of what it’s like to be a Tesla reservation holder, Tesla’s Model Y launch event, scheduled for 11 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, started late. When it did, CEO Elon Musk launched into a rundown of his company’s well-documented history.

There were a few admissions during his speech, including this telling statement:

“I really think the difficulty and value of manufacturing is underappreciated,” Musk said, echoing a sentiment hurled in his direction since the start of Model 3 production. “It’s relatively easy to make a prototype and extremely difficult to mass manufacture a vehicle reliably and at scale.”

With tonight’s splashy California reveal of the upcoming Model Y crossover, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hopes to achieve two things: positive press, and an avalanche of deposits. It would be a change from the past several weeks, in which an assembly line of undesirable headlines made it appear that a green monument was in danger of toppling.

While pricing and specs should be revealed tonight, J.D. Power thinks it knows what Tesla fans will pay.

Hoping to start this week in better form than last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter Sunday to generate buzz ahead of the Model Y’s debut. The upcoming crossover, based on the Model 3 sedan, will see the light of day on March 14th at the company’s L.A. design studio, Musk said.

As for when customers can expect to see one, that’s a matter for the bookies.

Elon Musk’s role as chairman and CEO of Tesla remained intact after Tuesday night’s annual shareholder meeting, where a proposal to split the duties between two people sank once it came to a vote. Three directors, including Musk’s brother Kimbal, also saw re-election last night, despite protests from some shareholders who feel they lacked experience.

With the challenge to Musk’s dominance squashed, it was then time to do the thing he does best: placate investors with assurances and rosy production timelines. Anyone interested in a Model Y?

Hoping to nudge the current Tesla Motors narrative in a more positive direction, CEO Elon Musk posted a “ quarterly all-hands video” late Thursday. Not particularly substantive, the clip is essentially a hype reel for the automaker — a relatively common practice within the industry. But near the beginning there are a few seconds where it teases a new vehicle.

Despite being covered almost entirely by a sheet, the vehicle (pictured above) set the internet into a frenzy. It even overshadowed the extended footage Tesla presented of the new Roadster in action. The general consensus is that the mostly obscured vehicle is an early prototype of the Model Y. But we’re less willing to jump to that conclusion.

In June 2017, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told shareholders that the company’s upcoming Model Y crossover, built on its own dedicated platform, would appear in 2019. That plan soon changed, with Musk deciding (under pressure) that the new vehicle would share much of its architecture with the Model 3 sedan. The timeline remained hazy, as Tesla timelines are wont to do.

Now, sources close to the company’s supply chain say the Model Y is headed for a November 2019 production start — a timeline one of the sources describes as “aggressive, but possible.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn’t getting any. By that we mean profits, as the electric automaker reported a $397 million first-quarter loss yesterday, adding to the red ink spilled in the previous quarter.

While the company’s revenue rose 18.4 percent in Q1 and deliveries climbed 12 percent, spending on Model 3 production more than offset the increase in cash flow. Musk took the loss in stride, playing the long game in a quarterly investors call, and claimed a combination of higher production numbers and lower operating costs will send those gray clouds packing.

Finances aside, the conference call yielded far more interesting topics, including details of the upcoming Model Y. Also, it seems people are becoming confused by Tesla’s naming strategy, and Musk has no one but Ford — and a dirty mind — to blame.

If Elon Musk’s tweets are accurate (and who can prove that they aren’t?), the Tesla CEO plans to build Millennials and hippies their dream ride at some point in the foreseeable future.

As per tradition, Musk took to Twitter to release snippets of detail about his sprawling (but vague) 10-year “master plan,” including what to expect from the automaker’s next two models. One proposed model is a no-brainer, but the other would be worshipped at a counterculture love-in.