SILVER SPRING, Md.- Parts Tesla Inc. It fell nearly 4% in noon trading on Tuesday after CEO and founder Elon Musk tweeted that a contract to sell 100,000 Hertz cars had not yet been signed, suggesting the deal had not yet been signed.
Shortly after the market closed on Monday, an account called “Tesla Silicon Valley Club” tweeted a picture of a graph showing Tesla’s 8.5% profit that day and thanked Musk. Musk replied on Twitter about six hours ago, “Congratulations! If any of this is based on Hertz, I want to point out that no contract has been signed yet.”
Hertz said on Tuesday that her plans had not changed.
“As we announced last week, Hertz is making an initial order for 100,000 Tesla electric cars by the end of 2022 and investing in EV’s new billing infrastructure in the company’s global operations,” the company said in a statement. “Tesla’s deliveries have already begun and consumer responses to our commitment to become a leader in electrification have been greater than we expected.”
Hertz first announced the transaction more than a week ago, making it one of the largest battery-powered car purchases in history. The financial details of the transaction – such as how much Hertz paid for the car or the total price – were not disclosed at the time. If Hertz pays the full retail price of $ 40,000 for each Model 3, the deal will be worth about $ 4 billion.
Last week’s news of the deal sparked Tesla stock rallies, bringing the carmaker’s most valuable market value above $ 1 trillion for the first time. Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, the shares rose 33% in the week since the transaction was announced. In the same response to a tweet on Monday night, Musk indicated that Hertz would not receive a discount and that the deal had nothing to do with underlining his company.
“Tesla has more demand than production, so we will only sell Hertz cars to consumers for the same margin,” Musk’s tweet said. “The Hertz agreement has no effect on our economy.”
Hertz said Tesla will arrive and be available for rent in November
In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Mark Fields, Hertz’s interim CEO, said Teslas has already reached the company’s website and will be available for rent this month.
It is not entirely clear why Musk would complicate or sabotage Hertz’s agreement, but public comments such as his will probably concern gaining leverage in negotiations.
Bill Selesky, chief analyst at Argus Research, suggests that Musk sees the value of his brand as a leader in electric cars and is trying to lose as much as he can for Hertz. “Hertz, if they agree with Tesla, will be immediately identified as part of the electric car revolution, not as a problem,” Selesky said.
