Mercedes Benz

Now that Elon Musk’s quixotic bid to take Tesla Inc. private is dead, the hand-wringing over when he’ll raise fresh financing has begun anew.? Musk may insist that he doesn’t need to raise more capital this year but to many on Wall Street, that sounds improbable. And even if it were true, they argue, it’s always best to lock in financing while you can. Who knows what markets will look like -- and, moreover, how they will view Tesla -- a year or two from now. But how to best tap markets? With demand for the electric-car maker’s bonds flagging, some have started pointing to the model that Ford Motor Co. deployed during the depths of its financial distress more than a decade ago. The centerpiece to this approach: Putting up assets, including the iconic Blue Oval logo, as collateral for cheap lines of credit. The Ford insignia was valued at $8 billion back then. Interbrand estimates that, given the passion that Tesla drivers have for their cars, the T emblem may already be worth half that ...