Tesla shares sink on fresh doubts

INVESTORS dumped Tesla shares last night after analysts raised doubts about whether the firm could keep up its recent production of the Model 3 sedan.

The electric car company headed by Elon Musk revealed on Sunday it had produced 5,000 of the vehicles in a week, a long-held goal.

But in a series of critical notes, Wall Street analysts said they did not see how Tesla would maintain the pace. It sent shares down 7.23pc, or $24.21, to $310.86 during a shortened trading day on US markets.

Colin Langan, an analyst at UBS, told Reuters: ‘We’re very worried about quality and if you read the reports online there’s significant quality issues. They still haven’t proven they can produce these profitably. The math is very challenging.’

Efraim Levy, an analyst at CFRA, said: ‘In the interim, we do not see this production rate as operationally or financially sustainable. However, over time, we expect the manufacturing rate to become sustainable and even rise.’

Tesla said on Monday that it intended to make 6,000 Model 3s per week next month.