Well, those concerns are about to get far more acute following a WSJ report that the company, seemingly facing a liquidity crunch, has asked some suppliers to refund a portion of what the electric-car company has spent previously, an appeal which the WSJ notes "reflects the auto maker’s urgency to sustain operations during a critical production period."
Which is especially odd in light of Musk's vows that Tesla will "at least be profitable in Q3 and Q4."
But we digress.
According to a memo seen by The Wall Street Journal that was sent to a supplier last week, Tesla said it is asking its suppliers for cash back to, drumroll, help it become profitable, as if that is somehow the priority of the company's suppliers.
And we are not talking about a few cents here and there: Tesla requested the supplier return what it calls a meaningful amount of money of its payments since 2016.
But wait, it gets better: the memo which was sent by a global supply manager (who will probably be fired shortly), described the request as "essential to Tesla’s continued operation" and characterized it as an investment in the car company to continue the long-term growth between both players.
In other words, Tesla has given its vendors an ultimatum: give us a haircut, or else we won't survive, and not only is your business with us over, but all those billions in payables we owe you, well, good luck with the other pre-petition claims in bankruptcy court. Or as one Tesla skeptic noted on twitter:
