Stock values for the Palo Alto, California based Tesla Motors took a nose dive after the official announcement of two executives would be leaving the company.

A couple of months before Tesla plans to launch its all electric Model S sedan, Ricardo Reyes, a spokesman for the company, announced the departure of two individuals who were involved in the development and design of the car. Peter Rawlinson, Tesla’s vice president and chief engineer, and Nick Sampson, supervisor of vehicle and chassis development are the two executives in question.

This announcement has caught the attention of anyone holding stocks in the company, and the result is a record %19 loss of value of the company’s stocks. Tesla received a $465 million U.S. loan to start production of the Model S in Fremont, California, which must have share holders worrying even more knowing that if the car doesn’t sell, bad times await. Some more dismal numbers from Tesla include a negative -110.95% loss in the net profit margin as well as losses in its operating margin which remained at -109.92%.

The Model S will be on sale later in the year, and the initial offering will carry a $49,900 price tag after rebates and incentives.

[Source: Galaxy Stocks]

Daimler AG has announced that the second generation Smart fortwo electric drive will go into series production starting in 2012. The announcement was made during the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the facility where the electric Smart cars will be built in Hambach, France.

A small number of vehicles will begin production in November of this year as Daimler continues to test the product durability and battery capability. Using a more compact lithium-ion battery pack sourced from U.S. electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc., the second generation of the Smart fortwo electric drive doesn’t compromise space and has adequate room for two adults. Power is rated at 30 kW (40-hp) and 120 Nm (89 ft-lbs) of torque, with a range of 135 km (84 miles). The initial vehicles will begin testing this year in cities across Europe and the U.S.

Smart claims the cars can hit 60 km/h in 6.5 seconds (the same as the gasoline models) and are speed-limited to 100 km/h (60 mph).

GALLERY: Smart fortwo Electric Drive

Official release after the jump:

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Daimler has just announced that it has reached an agreement with Tesla Motors Inc., that will see the German automaker gain a 10 percent stake in the California-based electric car maker.

Along with an undisclosed amount of money the agreement will help forge a partnership between the two companies as they work to bring electric vehicles to market in increasingly high numbers.

Tesla has already been working with Daimler to equip 1,000 SMART fortwo models with lithium-ion batteries for use in special test projects in Berlin and Italy. Daimler also plans to introduce an electric Mercedes vehicle by 2010.

As for Tesla, it will gain the engineering, production and supply chain expertise available at Daimler in order to move the upcoming Tesla Model S into production by 2011.

“Our strategic partnership is an important step to accelerate the commercialization of electric drives globally,” said Dr. Thomas Weber, the board member at Daimler responsible for research and development. “As a young and dynamic company, Tesla stands for visionary power and pioneering spirit. Together with Daimler’s 120 years of experience in the automotive sector this collaboration is a unique combination of two companies’ strengths. This mark another important milestone in Daimler’s strategy for sustainable mobility.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was equally as enthusiastic about the future partnership saying Daimler is on the “leading edge of sustainable mobility.”

“Daimler has set the benchmark for engineering excellence and vehicle quality for more than a century,” said Musk. “It is an honor and a powerful endorsement of our technology that Daimler would choose to invest in and partner with Tesla.”

Official release after the jump:

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