For the full year, Tesla lost US$976.09m, or US$5.72 per share. Without one-time items, the loss was US$1.33 per share, worse than estimates of US$1.24.
Shares of Tesla, which rose nearly 4 per cent in Wednesday trading, lost the gain after hours when the price fell nearly 5 per cent to US$294.20.
Tesla wrote in a letter to investors Wednesday that it expects to deliver 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles this year, a growth rate of 45 to 65 per cent compared with 2018.
Musk estimated worldwide demand for Tesla's mass-market Model 3 would reach 700,000 to 800,000 per year in a healthy economy, 500,000 if there's a recession. He said there's a significant risk of a downturn within the next 18 months.
The difficulty of making and selling large numbers of cars at a profit is now real for Tesla, which earlier this month cut 7 per cent of its workforce in an effort to make the mass-market Model 3 more affordable.
In addition, on January 2, Tesla cut prices by US$2,000 per vehicle, acknowledging that the pending expiration of a US$7,500 federal electric vehicle tax credit will hurt sales. The credit is gradually being phased out for Tesla by the end of the year.
The Model 3 was supposed to start at US$35,000, but Tesla has not been able to reach that price and make money. The cheapest version now starts at US$44,000. "That's the only way to make affordable cars," he said.
Tesla just began delivering the Model 3 in Europe and China, where Musk said there is strong demand. He said he expects the lower-cost version in the middle of this year.
Some analysts suspect Tesla to swing between profits and losses in the future as it tries to bring Model 3 costs under control.
"Things really aren't going to get any better for Tesla in the US than they did at the end of 2018," Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis for the Edmunds.com car pricing site, wrote in an email.
"Tesla's product lineup is starting to get stale, and now thanks to the elimination of the federal tax credit, buying one has never been more expensive."
Edmunds provides content, including automotive tips and reviews, for distribution by The Associated Press.
In addition to fighting costs, US$920m in Tesla notes come due on March 1. But Tesla said it has "sufficient cash on hand to comfortably settle in cash our convertible bond."
Tesla expects its restructuring to cut costs by US$400m per year, but said its first-quarter earnings would have a one-time restructuring charge of around US$40m. A gap between production and deliveries will create a "temporary but predictable" dip in revenues and earnings for the first quarter, it said.
During the conference call, Musk also announced:
— Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja would retire for a second time in a few months. Musk, who has seen a string of executive departures, announced Ahuja's replacement: Vice President of Finance Zachary Kirkhorn, a nine-year veteran with the company.
— Tesla probably will start leasing Model 3s later this year, although it was reluctant to do so because leasing would hurt the company's bottom line for accounting purposes.
— Tesla probably will have vehicles that drive themselves ready toward the end of the year, but it's up to regulators as to when they're approved.
- AP
