Tesla Motors Is Profitable ↦

A surge in sales and reduced manufacturing costs of Tesla’s Roadster 2 sports car helped boost the company to $1 million in earnings and $20 million in revenue.

“There is strong demand for a car that is unique in offering high performance with a clean conscience,” said Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, in a prepared statement. “Customers know that in buying the Roadster they are helping fund development of our mass market electric cars.”

The genius of Tesla Motors lies not in the engineering—electric cars have been done before—but in the strategy. They first targeted the margin-rich high end in order to secure a revenue stream and to fund later entry into additional market segments.