Tesla Model Y

Tesla Model Y

Musk tweeted. The tweet was promptly deleted, but not before Tech Insider captured a screen shot of the mention. Relatively speaking, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) has always been pretty forthright about its product roadmap and general direction. It all dates back to Elon Musk's 2006 blog post about the company's top-down approach, which was well before the company had ever even launched a vehicle. Here we are a decade later, and Tesla has now launched three vehicles and is currently building its third vehicle platform. The important Model 3 will be built on this newest platform. Automotive platforms are designed to produce numerous vehicles on the same platform. Over the years, Tesla has referenced a crossover SUV that would be built on this platform, even directly calling it the "Model Y" at various points in time to complete its S-3-X-Y product lineup. But Tesla doesn't talk about the Model Y anymore.

You'll note that the crossover reference is now gone. It would seem that Tesla has made a concerted effort to not discuss the Model Y going forward. More than likely, this is meant to focus everyone's attention on the Model 3, including internal development resources. It's also possibly an attempt to limit any potential Osborne Effect, where pre-announcing future products too early can hurt demand for current products. At the same time, America loves crossovers and SUVs (as do traditional automakers since it's also a very profitable segment). Bar none, crossovers were the most popular vehicle category in the U.S. February at over 354,000 units sold. Tesla also has a reputation for leaking from the top. Musk has never shied away from media attention, and has even acknowledged that he causes trouble for his PR team by sometimes spilling the beans too early on major announcements. Looks like he's now trying to exercise some restraint.

Most important, the Model Y should still be in the pipeline, even if Tesla won't openly acknowledge it anymore, although your guess is as good as mine as to timing. When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now鈥?and Tesla wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is famous for tweeting bits of key product and company information. The fact that Musk's tweets have since been deleted makes the whole thing even more mysterious. The story comes via Tech Insider, which has a screen capture of Musk's deleted 'Model Y' tweet. A user had asked if "a Model 3 crossover would have those doors" following Musk's tweet with a video of the Model X falcon doors in operation.

The story comes via Tech Insider, which has a screen capture of Musk's deleted 'Model Y' tweet. A user had asked if "a Model 3 crossover would have those doors" following Musk's tweet with a video of the Model X falcon doors in operation. Carmakers like to have coherent naming structures, so Model X as the large AWD crossover and Model Y as the small one would make sense. Tesla may have liked to do the same with its sedan names, but "Model T" is a Ford trademark--and, it turned out, so is "Model E," the company's choice for naming its future smaller, more affordable sedan model. The ultimate decision was to name it Model 3 (sometimes written Model III), which at least aligns with that car's position as the third generation of Tesla electric cars. Tesla has said it will unveil a concept of the Model 3 car in the spring of 2016, and hopes to start production late in 2017, though it's not likely to be produced in high volumes immediately.

It could take until 2020 for Tesla Motors to reach a production rate of 500,000 cars a year, Musk has said. And that assumes that the Model X production ramp-up goes smoothly and that the company can be building as many as 2,000 cars a week by the end of this year. Thus far, Tesla has not managed to launch any of its vehicles on their originally announced schedules, so the industry will follow the saga of the Model 3 with interest. Meanwhile, it appears that Musk has said that a future, more affordable electric utility wagon vehicle will be named Model Y--and will have the characteristic falcon doors. People lined up to order the Tesla Model 3 before the company even unveiled it. But even after the electric car took the stage March 31, many details were unclear. Now, we have more answers鈥攖hanks in part to tweets from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. We have combed the company's press information and Tesla鈥檚 social media to create this FAQ, which we will continue to update as more information becomes available.