Tesla Motors won’t kill the Roadster next year as expected, and in fact is poised to start cranking out a lot more of them while Tesla expands its market to include Asia and Australia. The nugget of news comes from this month’s issue of the Tesla Newsletter, which says, “Tesla has negotiated agreements with key suppliers that will increase total Roadster production by 40 percent and extend sales into 2012.” The agreement amounts to a reprieve for the Roadster, which according to the paperwork Tesla filed ahead of its impending IPO, was to hit the end of the road next year due to tooling changes at an unnamed supplier. Tesla has never confirmed it, but that supplier is widely believed to be Lotus, which builds most of the Roadster at its factory in Hethel, England. Lotus is retooling to build a new model, but apparently has agreed to keep cranking out Roadsters through 2012. By that time, Tesla plans to be building the Model S sedan at a factory in Southern California, and presumably will begin building Roadsters there as well. Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes declined to comment. The deal negotiated with Lotus allows Tesla to increase production by as much as 40 percent to meet demand for the Roadster, which Tesla will begin selling in Asia and Australia next year. That will bring to 25 the number of countries where the Roadster is sold. Tesla has delivered more than 1,000 Roadsters so far. Photo: Chuck Squatriglia / Wired.com | 
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