Tesla Outperformed Toyota By 8x Per Car Last Quarter

Tesla has figured out how to make a profit, and it's a large one, despite the business CEO's recent turbulence. According to a new report from Japan, Honda has eight times the profit per vehicle of Toyota.

According to Nikkei Asia, Tesla made $3.29 billion in profits in the third quarter of this year. Toyota's profit for the same period, when converted to US currency, was $3.15 billion. Despite the fact that Toyota sold more than seven times as many cars as rival Tesla did during the same time period.

Toyota sold 2.62 million vehicles in the third quarter, while Tesla sold only 344,000. Tesla's several price increases this year, as well as higher prices for the still-unavailable Full Self Driving capability, have contributed to the company's per-vehicle revenue growth.

Tesla's challenging decision to sell automobiles directly rather than through dealers, which has made sales in some states nearly impossible, has also contributed to higher earnings when compared to other automakers.

While Toyota's operating profit of $4.08 billion was greater than Tesla's $3.69 billion, it demonstrates that Tesla has quickly shifted from being unprofitable to becoming one of the world's most profitable automakers. The company's net profit did not match that of Mercedes-Benz, but it did outearn both BMW and Volkswagen.

Toyota hopes to catch up to Tesla's EV market domination by 2023, with a target of 3.5 million EVs per year. However, it is currently just selling the bZ4X EV.