Tesla Motors said on Wednesday it would offer about $2 billion in stock, mainly to help it ramp up production of its new Model 3 electric car over the next two years.  The company unveiled the Model 3, its first mass-market car, in March and has been flooded with orders even though the compact sedan will not be available for a year or more. So far, Tesla has accepted about 375,000 $1,000 deposits from hopeful buyers.  Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, has said the company aims to produce 500,000 Model 3s by 2018 at its factory in Fremont, Calif.  Many automakers would consider that a stretch, said Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst at the auto researcher Edmunds.com. A typical auto plant makes 200,000 to 250,000 cars a year, she said.  “Raising money is going to help them try to reach that 500,000 number, but a lot of people have doubts,” she said. “It seems like an unreachable goal.”  It’s also a huge leap from the 15,000 cars Tesla produced in the first three months of the year.  Its models include the Model S sedan, which costs about $75,000, and the Model X, a seven-passenger sport utility vehicle priced at about $80,000. The Model 3 will be priced at around $35,000.  While Tesla is often hailed for design and innovation, manufacturing has proved more of a challenge. The release of the Model X has been slowed by a recall, and the automaker recently lost two production executives.  The company this month hired a manufacturing executive from Audi, Peter Hochholdinger, to become its production chief. The previous vice president for production, Greg Reichow, decided to take a leave of absence from the company. His departure was disclosed at the same time that Tesla announced that John Ensign, who had been vice president for manufacturing since 2014, was also leaving the company.  Of the stock Tesla plans to offer, about $1.4 billion will be new shares. The remaining amount will be sold by Mr. Musk to cover tax expenses stemming from 5.5 million stock options he has exercised.  News of the offer hurt Tesla shares in after-hours trading, where they fell $2.52, to $208.65. Earlier in the day, the stock climbed as high as $215.31 after Goldman Sachs changed its recommendation on Tesla shares to buy from neutral.  In a note to clients, an analyst for Goldman, Patrick Archambault, said Tesla’s sales goals were “ambitious,” but nevertheless he set a stock price target of $250 over the next six months.  “We do not believe Tesla shares are fully capturing the company’s disruptive potential,” Mr. Archambault wrote.  In the first quarter of this year, Tesla lost about $283 million on revenue of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, it reported revenue of about $940 million and a loss of $154 million.  A version of this article appears in print on May 19, 2016, on page B5 of the New York edition with the headline: Tesla Plans Stock Offering to Aid Its Production Goals. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Tesla aims to make 500,000 of its lower-priced and much-sought Model 3 electric car by 2018. Raising money will help.