Tesla Delivers More Than 300,000 Cars in the Fourth Quarter of 2021
Tesla reported record quarterly deliveries on Sunday that far exceeded Wall Street expectations, despite global chip shortages as it ramped up China production.
It was the world’s most valuable automaker’s sixth consecutive quarter of record deliveries.
Tesla, led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, delivered 308,600 vehicles in the fourth quarter, far exceeding analysts’ expectations of 263,026 units.
Tesla’s October-December deliveries were up about 70 percent from a year earlier and nearly 30 percent higher from record deliveries the preceding quarter.
“Great work by Tesla team worldwide!” Musk wrote on Twitter.
Great work by Tesla team worldwide! https://t.co/lsDTCJtMrp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2022
His electric car company increased production in China despite increased competition and regulatory pressure as a result of consumer complaints about product safety.
Tesla ships models made in China to Europe and some Asian countries.
In 2021, the automaker increased its annual deliveries by 87 percent over the previous year to 936,172 vehicles.
Musk stated last October that Tesla will be able to maintain an annual growth rate of more than 50% for “quite some time.”
New factories
“They have defied all expectations,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at Loup Ventures, on Sunday.
“The first is that their products are in high demand. And the second is that they are doing an excellent job of meeting that demand “He stated.
Munster predicted that Tesla’s deliveries would increase to 1.3 million vehicles this year, despite production challenges at its new factories and supply chain issues.
In October, Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn stated that it is difficult to predict how quickly the company will be able to ramp up production at new factories in Texas and Berlin, which will use new vehicle technologies and teams.
Tesla stated in October that it hoped to build its first production cars at both locations by the end of 2021, but it is unclear whether that goal was met. Tesla did not respond to a Reuters inquiry about the plants. It had planned to start production at its Berlin factory last summer.
According to a report released on Friday by Deutsche Bank, Tesla is expected to deliver nearly 1.5 million vehicles this year, though chip shortages remain a risk to production.
‘Extremely unusual’ scarcity
As a result of the pandemic and lockdown measures, automakers reduced chip orders in 2020. But, according to Musk, Tesla never reduced its production forecast with suppliers to support its rapid growth plan, which helped it weather the chip shortage.
Tesla, which, unlike most automakers, designs some chips in-house, has also reprogrammed software to use less scarce chips, according to Musk.
Musk, who previously stated that “2021 has been the year of super crazy supply chain shortages,” stated in October that he is optimistic that those issues will be resolved by 2022.
In October, Tesla’s market capitalisation surpassed $1 trillion after rental car company Hertz said it had ordered 100,000 of its vehicles. The company’s stock dropped after Musk announced on Twitter in November that he was considering selling 10% of his stake in Tesla.
Last year, Tesla’s stock increased by 50%.
