Tesla Motors had reached a really important miles

Tesla Motors had reached a really important milestone in Q1 2013 — for the first time in the company's ten-year long history, it turned a profit.

Tesla's GAAP profit for the quarter was $11 million; sales were $562 million, up 83% from last quarter.

The company sold 4,900 vehicles in Q1. It expects to sell more than 15,000 vehicles per year in the U.S. and more than 30,000 vehicles per year globally.

The ride to profitability was a bumpy one for Tesla. Until very recently, the company CEO Elon Musk had to fend off critics claiming the company is a "loser". He won't have to do that for at least another three months.

As far as Tesla's immediate plans go, the company wants to open some 30 service locations in total and 15 more stores and galleries (half of them in Europe and Asia) in 2013. The production of company's third car, Model X, is scheduled to start in 2014.

On the topic of possible mergers or acquisitions go, Musk recently said the company would be interested in an acquisition by a player outside of the automotive sector, with a very large cash position. It's an obvious hint at Apple, but who knows — Apple is not the only tech company with an extremely large mound of cash.