Tesla misses earnings expectations as production falters

US carmaker Tesla disappointed with its second quarter results as it recorded a $293m loss for the period compared to last year.

It was the company's thirteenth successive quarterly loss after both sales and revenuye took a hit, with production numbers falling as well.

The company said sales for the three months to June 30 were $1.3bn, failing to meet the $1.6bn forecast by analysts. The company reported last month that it had missed its vehicle delivery target for a second time in a row, raising doubts that it would hit its annual target.

Tesla delivered 14,402 cars during the quarter missing its target of 17,000.

The manufacturer said it was still on track to meet its delivery projections of 50,000 for this year on its Model S ans Model X cars.

CEO Elon Musk has played down the results, referring to Tesla as "not a money-losing business", despite the consecutive losses.

“The real question on profitability is, where do we set the dial on growth?” Musk said. “When all of that’s lumped together, it can be confusing. And then they would think Tesla’s a money-losing company but, well, not really. Not if you’re growing at like 100% a year,” he added.

Tesla's shares were little changed in after-hours trading on Wednesday.

Last week, Musk announced a deal for Tesla to buy another of his investments, SolarCity, in a $2.6bn deal which observers expect will combine solar technology with Musk's innovative electric cars.

The purchase came after the CEO revealed a plan to diversify the automaker's profits by moving into electrically-powered buses and trucks.