Tesla Inc delivered 405,278 vehicles globally in the fourth quarter, a record high despite rising interest rates, inflation and production constraints in China.
Results released on Monday missed expectations. To clear inventory, Tesla is offering a $7,500 discount to U.S. consumers who pick up their vehicles in the final days of December. Analysts had expected the company to ship 420,760 vehicles — the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Tesla delivered more than 1.31 million vehicles for the year, below the company’s 50% year-over-year growth target. Tesla said in a statement that vehicle deliveries in 2022 will increase by 40% year-on-year, and production will increase by 47% to 1.37 million vehicles. The company produced 439,701 vehicles.
At the end of the quarter, more than 34,000 vehicles were still in transit.
“Tesla sells cars, and the auto industry is slowing down,” Gene Munster, managing partner at Loup Ventures, said by phone. “They’re still struggling with logistics, between production and delivery. The gap widened from the previous quarter.”
“Our continued transition to a more even regional vehicle manufacturing mix again resulted in further increases in delivery vehicles towards the end of the quarter,” Tesla said.
Tesla’s quarterly delivery figures are widely seen as a barometer of general electric vehicle demand, as the Austin, Texas-based company has been leading the way.
The company has a long tradition of going all-out at the end of the quarter to get cars into the hands of paying customers, with top executives like design chief Franz von Holzhausen helping out at a delivery center in Southern California on New Year’s Eve.
Tesla doesn’t break down sales by region, but the U.S. and China are its biggest markets, with 95% of 2022 sales coming from the Model 3 sedan and Y crossover.
Tesla makes the Model S, X, 3 and Y at its factory in Fremont, California. Its Shanghai factory makes the Model 3 and Y. Tesla recently started delivering the Model Y from its newest factories in Austin and Berlin.
Tesla delivered its first Class 8 “Semi” trucks to PepsiCo in December, but the quarterly press release didn’t include any figures on the Semi trucks.
First published date: Jan 3, 2023 at 08:57 AM CST
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