Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is once again the prime target of short sellers amid falling crude oil prices. With crude oil prices falling excessively in the last several months, a new question is raised about the near-term future of fuel-efficient vehicles. At the same time, Tesla is not the only company taking a hit and the top selling hybrid vehicle from Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) (NYSE:TM) has experienced 15 percent drop in sales in the U.S. market alone.
According to the latest figures from NASDAQ, as many as 25.38 million shares of Tesla Motors were shorted as on January 15, 2015 as compared to the 25.11 million shares shorted on December 31. During the same period, the shares of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) plunged in excess of 13 percent and since then the shares of the electric automaker have improved moderately.
Another reason leading to an interest in short selling was a remark from Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, indicating slowing demand in China and associated infrastructures issues in the country. At the same time, Musk said that the company wouldn’t be profitable until 2020 when it reaches 500,000 deliveries.
Nick Skiming, Ashburton Ltd, said,
“Until there’s greater evidence of a further acceleration in sales in U.S., Europe and China, the shares will probably struggle. The fall in the oil price has also undoubtedly made something of an impact on the perception of future sales of energy-efficient vehicles.”
Earlier this week, the vice president of Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) (NYSE:TM) criticized Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) for producing only electric cars adding that the electric maker puts “all its eggs in one basket.” Another important thing to note is that Musk earlier called hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as “fool-cell vehicles” and he has remained a strong critic of the vehicle primarily because of the highly inflammable nature of hydrogen.
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.
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