IPO Watch: Tesla Motors

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Tesla Motors -- apparently eager to enter an auto market still reeling from the economic downturn -- is planning an initial public offering .

The electric car maker did not reveal when the deal would be complete, how many shares it's selling or the pricing, but did say it hopes to raise up to $100 million in the deal.

This would be the first IPO in the auto industry since Ford(F) came to market in 1956.

Whether or not this is the right time for Tesla to come to market is a debatable point. Since the beginning of the year, the majority of the companies that came to market priced either below or at the low end of expectations.

China Electric Motor(CELM)and Andatee China Marine Fuel Service(AMCF), to name two, are among the companies that came to market last week pricing shares below their target.

-- Written by Jeanine Poggi from New York

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