The American auto company Tesla has ended the second quarter with record sales, profits and sales figures.

According to its own information, the electric car company achieved a profit of 1.14 billion dollars on sales of almost 12 billion dollars.

The company led by Elon Musk exceeded the expectations of most analysts.

The profit was ten times as high as in the same quarter of the previous year, the turnover doubled.

Musk himself spoke at the analyst conference about the breakthrough year for Tesla.

Winand von Petersdorff-Campen

Business correspondent in Washington.

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The remarkable thing about Tesla is not that it has developed car prototypes.

Hundreds of start-ups would have that too.

The remarkable thing is that Tesla didn't go bankrupt like the others, Musk said.

He sees a turning point in public perception for electric cars.

The public would see that they represented the future.

Profit margin of 11 percent

Auto sales are the largest sales driver with sales of more than 10 billion dollars. According to its own account, Tesla earned only $ 354 million from the sale of eco-credits to other car companies. In doing so, the company refutes the suspicion that it is heavily dependent on these credits. The solar and power storage business, for whose acquisition Musk recently had to defend himself in court, plays a minor role with less than ten percent of the business, but is also growing.

The company pointed to improved profitability with an 11 percent profit margin. Tesla has thus reached another internal milestone, which is why stock options worth $ 176 million are transferred to the company's securities portfolio: Elon Musk does not receive a salary as the head of the group, instead he is rewarded with stock options if certain previously defined milestones are reached. $ 23 million in write-downs hit bitcoins the company acquired and accepted as payment for a short period of time. In April, however, Tesla had sold part of the bitcoins it had acquired for a profit of around $ 100 million. Additional raw material costs additionally dampened profitability.

Vehicle deliveries have improved from 91,000 in the second quarter of the previous year to 201,000 in the current comparison period, most of them vehicles of the 3 series. Tesla produces at the highest capacity limit, which is determined by the replenishment of preliminary products. Many auto companies around the world are suffering from microchip shortages. Musk confirmed serious problems that were beyond the control of the company and which would have resulted in temporary production stops.

The two production sites under construction in Texas and Berlin-Brandenburg are making progress. You work as quickly as possible in order to be able to start production in Berlin. Musk expects limited production at both locations to begin this year. The agony that one goes through to get a production going can hardly be conveyed to outsiders. Time is of the essence, especially in Europe: demand in Europe is far higher than supply, reports the company. Tesla currently has an annual production capacity of just under 1.1 million vehicles.