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Tesla Shares Near Record High As It Reaffirms Mass-Market Model 3 Production

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Tesla, Inc. (TSLA - Free Report) , formerly Tesla Motors, Inc., shares neared an all-time high on Monday after the electric car manufacturer reaffirmed its plans to launch its first mass-market car, the Model 3, in late 2017.

Tesla shares rose 4% Monday, and it is up 2.76% in Tuesday trading to $283.46. Now, the company, which nearly fell off a cliff in February 2016, looks poised to regain some momentum ahead of its biggest undertaking to date.

Tesla will reportedly start to buildpre-production versions of its $35,000 Model 3 sedan in mid-2017, as the company attempts to begin fulfilling the 373,000 pre-orders. Consumers placed faith in Elon Musk’s company by putting down $1,000 deposits for the new vehicles starting in Spring 2016. Tesla plans to roll out the Model 3 all the way through 2018.

Model S third quarter sales jumped 59%in the U.S. year-over-year, claiming nearly a third of the luxury sedan market. Overall, fourth quarter sales rose 27%.

Despite falling just short of its goal to deliver 80,000 vehicles, Morgan Stanley analysts placed their faith in Teslalast month. And since December, Tesla shares have risen by nearly 60%.

Musk, Tesla’s chairman and largest shareholder stated his hopes to produce 500,000 electric vehicles a year by the end of 2018 and 1 million by 2020.

Other Moves

The company announced on Monday it is ready to enter the Middle East market. Tesla will begin to accept online orders for its Model S sedan and Model X SUV from the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is expected to get a Tesla pop-up store and a service center by July. Tesla has similar plans for Abu Dhabi by 2018. The move puts the company in the potentially large Middle Eastern luxury car market.

Oil prices have fallen in the last two years, which could prompt a shift in regional driving practices. UAE just announced a free-to-use electric vehicle road with charging stations.

Musk is currently being courted to bring a Tesla plant to his home country of South Africa. And he recently announced intentions to bring Tesla to India.

Tesla has also started to invest in sustainability far beyond electric cars.

Its $2.1 billion acquisition of solar power giant SolarCity has allowed the company to expand its business model. Tesla is now investing heavily in solar power and sustainable battery technology in order to expand its new energy business.

And Musk wants to begin to colonize Mars by 2024. So conquering the electric car market doesn’t seem all that difficult by comparison.

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