(Reuters) – Tesla said on Monday its capital expenditure for 2023 would exceed the $7 billion to $9 billion target it had laid out earlier this year, as the electric-vehicle maker ramps up output at its factories and gears up to roll out new models.
The automaker is expected to start shipments of its revamped Model 3 compact sedan and the “Blade Runner”-inspired Cybertruck in the last three months of the year, after factory retooling in the third quarter that sapped deliveries and ate into earnings.
The company’s spending is, however, expected to return to the $7 billion and $9 billion range in the next two years, a regulatory filing showed.
CEO Elon Musk said at Tesla’s earnings call earlier this month that the company was hesitating on its plans for a factory in Mexico as it grapples with a turbulent economic outlook.
He warned that rising interest rates could impact demand at Tesla, which has turned to a margin-sapping price war this year to maintain sales.
Tesla’s shares were down 1.2% in premarket trading in a broadly weaker market.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni; Editing by Maju Samuel)
