On Wednesday, Tesla Motors reported a bigger first-quarter loss compared to its loss a year ago. However, this news was almost overshadowed by the prospect of the departure of the company's two important manufacturing executives.
The car maker also said it is increasing its production of the new Model X sport utility vehicle whose roll out has suffered delays contributing to the company's financial losses.
By using conventional generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP), the loss of Tesla Motors was estimated at $282.3 million, much bigger than its loss the previous year of $154.2 million.
But overall sales increased 22 percent to $1.15 billion from the previous year's $940 million.
The electric car maker choses to concentrate on its non-GAAP financial results, which are adjusted for leasing factors, employee stock compensation and other items. Those results are a little better than analysts predicted.
Tesla will also be missing two of its top manufacturing executives, George Reichow and Josh Ensign. Reichow is the company's vice president of production and one of the company's highest paid executives. Ensign is the vice president of manufacturing. Reichow will stay until his replacement is found.
These changes are linked to the delays in production of Tesla X, said an individual who have knowledge of the situation but is not authorized to speak about the matter. The car model has been hounded by glitches and a recall causing the delays, according to this person.
However, Tesla Motors denied that the departures are connected with the SUV's production delays.
"This is not about the Model X," said a Tesla spokesperson. "After being at Tesla for over five years and leading its production team for the past three years, Greg Reichow has announced his intention to take a leave of absence from Tesla so that he can have a well-earned break."
