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Analyst predicts GM will buy Tesla in 2014

There's little question that Tesla has come at the automotive industry as an outsider. But will it last as an outsider for much longer? Not if you ask Yra Harris of Praxis Trading. According to USA Today, the veteran financial analyst recently predicted on CNBC that General Motors will try to buy Tesla in 2014.
It certainly wouldn't be the first time that GM acquired another automaker. It did just that when it purchased the rights to the Hummer brand from AM General in 1999 and completed its takeover of Saab the year after. But, of course, The General has since divested from both, shutting down its Pontiac and Saturn brands in the process. Daewoo and Oldsmobile are gone too, as is Geo. Chevrolet is to be withdrawn from Europe, and over the past few years, GM has sold its minority stake in Isuzu, Subaru, Suzuki and PSA Peugeot-Citroën as well.
Of course, none of these are dedicated electric carmakers like Tesla is, and the Volt may not be doing as well as Detroit had initially hoped. But does that mean it's ready to start expanding its brand portfolio again? With all due respect to Mr. Harris, somehow we doubt it - especially with Tesla currently enjoying sky-high market valuation. The company's market capitalization stands at over $18 billion - more than 100-plus times its earnings. That would make mounting a Tesla takeover a hugely risky and costly endeavor unless Wall Street tempers its stock value greatly.

Consumer Reports weighs in with its first Tesla Model S review

Everyone has been chiming in with their thoughts on the Tesla Model S lately, and with the car taking home awards like the prestigious Motor Trend Car of the Year, this probably won't change anytime soon. Not wanting to be left in the dark, Consumer Reports has managed to get its hands on a Model S to give its own impressions of the luxurious electric hatchback.
Like many other outlets (including our own first drive), CR praised the Model S for its styling (which it compares to an Audi A7) and performance (which it says "can put serious hurt on a Corvette"). With limited time with the car, the video doesn't touch on the specific range the institute attained, but it appears most of the car's time was spent on the track anyway.
On the flip side of things, CR dinged the Model S for its retractable door handles which the reviewer refers to as "fussy," and as much as CR has blasted Ford and its MyFord Touch for being distracting and largely button-less in the past, we were surprised at how much it seemed to adore the lack of buttons on Model S. They even glossed over the fact that drivers can surf the Web on the 17-inch touch screen while driving.

Tesla's Musk could build flying or submersible car

You sometimes get the impression that Tesla CEO Elon Musk says wild things just to gauge people's reactions. You have to be crazy to think that the Hyperloop is ever going to happen. Train travel is barely accepted in much of the country. Recently, he boasted in an interview with Britain's The Independent newspaper that he could build a flying car and a submersible one. If he's to be believed this time, one of them might actually happen.
"We could definitely make a flying car - but that's not the hard part. The hard part is, how do you make a flying car that's super safe and quiet? Because if it's a howler, you're going to make people very unhappy," said Musk to the newspaper. Obviously, the flying car has been an automotive dream for decades, but it has always been so disappointing. Even the long-delayed Terrafugia Transition needs a runway to takeoff and can't just pop in an out of traffic like we all want.
While the flying car likely remains a pipe dream, Musk seems much more serious about the prospects of a vehicle that can go underwater. He told The Independent: "We will be making a submarine car. It can transition from being a submarine to a car that drives up on the beach. Maybe we'll make two or three, but it wouldn't be more than that." The man does have some experience in this area. He bought the submersible Lotus Esprit last year from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, and planned to install a Tesla Model S powertrain in it. Now, let's see if either of these big ideas ever comes to fruition.