Tesla, Inc. TSLA achieved a major production milestone this week and Elon Musk had a word of appreciation for the team.
What Happened: Tesla produced its five-millionth car this week, the company said on Friday in a post on X, which was formerly Twitter. “Thank you Tesla owners for your ongoing support,” it said.
A post shared by Tesla influencer Whole Mars Catalog on Sunday suggests the five-millionth car was a Model 3 manufactured at the Giga Shanghai facility.
Incidentally, Tesla produced its four-millionth vehicle in early March at the Giga Texas. The production of the five-millionth car came in just over six months. The first Model 3 rolled out of Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California in July 2017.
Commenting on the feat, Musk said, “Congratulations Tesla Team! That’s a lot of cars.”
Why It’s Important: Tesla is the leader among electric vehicle makers and is targeting deliveries of 1.8 million units this year. Against an uncertain economic condition, the company has been aggressively cutting prices to drive volume, setting off a chain reaction of price cuts in the industry. While Tesla can afford to take down prices without much of a margin impact due to its production efficiency and vertically integrated business, for startups that have yet to be profitable, following in Tesla’s footsteps will be a risky strategy.
Tesla has a global manufacturing footprint with Gigafactories in the U.S., Germany and China. Earlier this month, the Giga Shanghai plant in China, which commenced operations in late 2019, manufactured its two-millionth car.
The EV giant’s production milestone pales in comparison to several legacy automakers. Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corp. TM, for example, produced 9.03 million cars in 2022 alone.
Tesla closed Friday’s session down 0.60% at $274.39, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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