Tesla’s Long-Awaited Model 3 On Track For March 2016 Unveiling

In its third quarter shareholder letter, Tesla said that its long-awaited Model 3 is on track to be unveiled in late March 2016. The Model 3, priced at $35,000, is the vehicle that the company hopes will help it to reach its goal to sell 500,000 cars per year by 2020.

The Model 3 is the company’s mass market follow-up to its more expensive Model S sedan and Model X crossover. In fact, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company’s work with the award-winning S and X cars is simply a means to put it in a position to manufacture and sell the Model 3.

“The S and X serve as the revenue foundation for the Model 3,” Musk told Business Insider earlier this year at the launch of the Model X.

Although Tesla’s third quarter revenue and profit both came in below Wall Street estimates, its stock still managed to climb close to 10 percent in the first hour following the release, amid promises that the future will be bright.

The company delivered 11,602 vehicles in the third quarter, which is slightly ahead of its estimates that were released last month, and includes the first shipments of the hotly anticipated Model X SUV. Tesla now expects to deliver between 50,000 to 52,000 this year, with up to 19,000 deliveries occurring in the remaining quarter. This number is down from an initial delivery forecast of 55,000 and from the 50,000 to 55,000 goal that the company announced in August.

So, why is Tesla’s stock soaring?

In the letter to shareholders, billionaire CEO Elon Musk demonstrated his now legendary ability to make the future look bright, with statements that the company’s Gigafactory construction is ahead of schedule and the Model 3 is on track to be unveiled in March 2016.

The letter was written by Musk and chief financial officer Deepak Ahuja, with the company expressing optimism about future car sales. “Since the Model X launch event, order rates have accelerated for both Model S and Model X,” stated the letter. “Although it is too early to draw firm conclusions, this supports our belief that Model X expands the market for Tesla vehicles, with little to no cannibalization of Model S.”

Tesla is known as an innovative player in the auto industry, including a recent software update that provides existing owners of its vehicles with enhanced semi-autonomous driving functionality.

“Version 7.0 software released over-the-air in October has delivered a significant visual update to the digital displays of the entire Model S fleet,” wrote Tesla. “The release also enabled Autopilot on about 40,000 Model S and Model X vehicles globally, giving these cars the ability to steer within a lane, change lanes with a tap of a turn signal and parallel park autonomously. Autopilot also reduces front and side collision risk and helps keep the car on the road should the driver become distracted.”

Tesla also discussed its growing focus on China in its third quarter shareholder letter. “In China, our newest major market, Q3 Model S orders increased substantially from Q2, due in part to the opening of two new retail locations,” the company wrote. “We expect order growth in China to remain strong with more store openings and the recent policy changes in Beijing and other major cities that allow buyers of Tesla vehicles to bypass license plate restrictions.”

The company also announced that it hired former Google executive Jason Wheeler as its CFO. Wheeler was thought to be a contender for the same role at Google following the retirement of Patrick Pichette earlier this year, a job that was ultimately filled by Morgan Stanley veteran Ruth Porat.