Tesla’s Irish operation records €2.8m turnover for last year

Electric car giant Tesla's Irish operation recorded a €19,640 profit on the back of €2.8 million in sales for the year ended December 31st, 2017. The Silicon Valley firm, led by Elon Musk, opened its first Irish store in Sandyford Industrial Estate in April last year, having incorporated the Irish busness in August 2016.

Accounts for Tesla Ireland show it purchased inventory from its parent of €1.7 million during the year, and incurred a rental expense of €157,542. Staff costs for its seven employees ran to €338,145.

During its first year of operation here it also installed three supercharger stations on the island - where cars can be fully recharged in just over an hour - with two more stations coming soon.

Tesla recorded 51 new sales in 2017, with prices for its Model S saloons starting at €98,328 and its Model X crossover starting at €108,770 . So far this year Tesla has sold 107 new cars, comprising 77 Model S and 30 Model X. While that's miniscule in a new car market of 117,155 to date, its more than Porsche, with 62 sales so far this year, or mainstream brands like Jeep, Alfa Romeo or Ssangyong. Sales of the Model S have also outsold luxury rivals like the BMW 7 Series and Audi A8 this year.

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Many buyers are awaiting the Irish arrival of the Model 3 saloon pencilled in for 2019. The firm’s first mass-market premium model is planning to challenge popular saloons from German rivals like BMW, Audi and Mercedes. However, the company has struggled to overcome bottlenecks and ramp up production of the Model 3, which in turn has hit Tesla’s share price.