Tesla Inc. appointed a director who’s been on its board for years to replace Elon Musk as chairman, stirring suspicion as to whether the mercurial CEO will be restrained after costly run-ins with securities regulators.

Tesla Inc. blew away expectations with just the third quarter of positive earnings in its history, bolstering Elon Musk’s bid to make selling electric cars a financially sustainable business.

BEIJING — Electric auto brand Tesla Inc. said it signed an agreement Oct. 17 to secure land in Shanghai for its first factory outside the United States, pushing ahead with development despite mounting U.S.-Chinese trade tensions.

Tesla Inc. just reached a significant round-number milestone: 100,000 Model 3 electric cars have left the factory, according to the latest estimates from the Bloomberg tracker.

Elon Musk will give up the role of Tesla Inc. chairman and pay a $20 million penalty to settle fraud charges brought by the U.S. over his claims about taking the company private.

It is nearly impossible to imagine Tesla Inc. without Elon Musk, its chairman, CEO, largest shareholder and public face. But a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit has raised questions about the executive’s future at the clean-energy company, sending shares spiraling.

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of misleading investors when he tweeted that he had funding lined up to take the company private.

Elon Musk says an “extreme shortage” of car carrier trailers is partly to blame for Tesla’s delivery woes. That has trucking industry executives and analysts scratching their heads.

All it took to draw the U.S. Justice Department into investigating Tesla Inc. was a single tweet by Chairman Elon Musk. But now that prosecutors have a toehold, they can dig in to look for other signs of misconduct at the electric car maker.

Tesla Inc. is under investigation by the Justice Department over public statements made by the company and CEO Elon Musk, according to two people familiar with the matter. The criminal probe is running alongside a previously reported civil inquiry by securities regulators.