Elon Musk set for a $299m bonus as Tesla's reveals $438m profit 

Elon Musk bagged a $299million (£215million) bonus as Tesla posted record profits last night.

The billionaire boss of the electric car maker scooped the award after its market capitalisation surged, its results revealed. 

The company said sales in the first three months of the year leapt from £4.3billion to £7.5billion, beating the £7.4billion expected by Wall Street analysts.

Profits for the period also leapt from £50million to a record £383million.

However, that was below the £498million expected, prompting Tesla’s shares to dip by just over 1 per cent in after-hours trading.

The sales boom came on the back of record production figures at the firm and surging demand for electric cars globally. 

Last night Tesla said it was poised to start deliveries of its updated Model S saloon car and was making progress building factories in Berlin and Texas. It added: ‘There is a lot to be excited about in 2021.’

The company has enjoyed booming sales of late, buoyed by the growing shift towards green technology. 

Its flagship Model Y crossover and the Model 3 saloon car have been in particular demand, prompting the company’s expansion of operations in both Europe and China. 

Tesla started production of the Model Y late last year at its Shanghai factory, where it already makes the Model 3.

That paid off in February, when its China sales jumped from the previous month – despite it being a time when demand usually falls during China’s Lunar New Year holidays.

Another boost came this month when Tesla notched up record production figures for the first quarter of this year, even in the face of global chip shortages.

The firm produced 180,338 cars during the period, up from 88,400 in 2020.

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said the numbers were a ‘drop the mic’ moment that defied predictions by detractors. 

He predicted Tesla’s annual sales will exceed 850,000 vehicles this year, fuelled by President Biden’s policy of boosting electric vehicle sales in the US and surging demand globally. 

Tesla said last night it was expecting to increase vehicle deliveries by 50 per cent each year. 

However, it comes as the electric car market is becoming increasingly busy, with rivals such as Ford and Volks-wagen pledging to plough billions into their own new models and research.

Tesla also faces questions in the United States over a crash involving one of its Model S cars that killed two men. An investigation into the incident, which happened in Texas earlier this month, is said to have found that no one was sitting in the driver’s seat.

That has prompted speculation that the vehicle’s autonomous ‘autopilot’ system was running.

Musk denied that, saying data recovered from the car indicated it was not using self-driving software. But Tesla faces calls for a federal probe.