Tesla China funding may be subject of US regulator’s inquiry

Tesla’s financing arrangements in China may be the subject of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) inquiry that the electric car maker disclosed last week, according to analysts at Evercore ISI.

The arrangements, according to the Evercore report, also probably help explain how Tesla spent just US$1.3 billion on capital expenditures last year, a little more than half its budget for as much as US$2.5 billion.

“It’s possible that TSLA’s Shanghai factory and extremely limited capex may be what the SEC is looking into,” McNally wrote.

Representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Judy Burns, an SEC spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Tesla disclosed in a regulatory filing last week that the SEC sent the company a subpoena on December 4 seeking information on “certain financial data and contracts including Tesla’s regular financing arrangements”.