Tesla, Inc. TSLA announced that third-quarter deliveries rose to a record level after the previous quarter’s production-induced setback.
What Happened: Tesla said it sold 343,830 cars in the third quarter, the company said in a statement on Sunday. This represented a nearly 35% increase from the 254,695 units sold in the second quarter, which suffered from production disruptions due to the COVID resurgence in China. On a year-over-year basis, deliveries improved about 42.5% from the 241,300 units sold in the third quarter of 2021.
Most analysts were modeling deliveries of around 360,000 for the quarter.
The September-quarter deliveries comprised 18,672 Model S/X vehicles and 325,158 Model 3/Y cars. This compares to the second-quarter numbers of 16,162 units and 238,533 units, respectively.
Tesla’s Made-in-China sales in the first two months of the third quarter stood at 105,182 units, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association.
Tesla produced 365,923 cars in the third quarter, up from the second quarter’s 258,580 units and the year-ago quarter’s 237,823 units.
The company noted in the release that as its delivery volumes are skewed towards quarter-end due to regional batch building of cars, it has found it increasingly challenging to secure vehicle transportation capacity at a reasonable cost during these peak logistics weeks.
In the third quarter, the company began transitioning to a more even regional mix of vehicle builds each week, increasing the number of cars in transit at the end of the quarter. These cars, according to the company, have been ordered and will be delivered to customers upon arrival at their destination.
Why It’s Important: Tesla has been stepping up production to make up for the lean patch seen in the second quarter. The company’s Giga Shanghai is cranking up cars off its production line even during the China National Day holiday, which runs from Oct. 1-7, CnEVPost reported, citing local media reports. It is reportedly paying three times the wages to get people to work on these days.
In China, the company also announced an insurance subsidy that would run through the year-end to stimulate sales.
The sales momentum is only going to accelerate further, if a Reuters report is anything to go by. The report suggested that Tesla is planning to see a spike in the global production of its Model Y and Model 3 EVs to 495,000 in the fourth quarter, with momentum accelerating in 2023. The rumored plan would mean the company’s projected growth would outpace the global auto growth estimates by about 10 times.
Chinese EV trio Nio, Inc. NIO, XPeng, Inc. XPEV and Li Auto, Inc. LI on Saturday released their quarterly numbers. These companies reported deliveries of 31,607, 29,570 and 26,524 units, respectively, for the quarter.
Tesla said it would report its financial results after the market close on Oct. 19.
Tesla closed Friday’s session down 1.10% at $265.25, according to Benzinga Pro data. The stock has lost about 25% year-to-date, stung by macroeconomic concerns and some company-specific issues.
Photo: Courtesy of Steve Jurvetson on Flickr
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