Tesla released its tentative delivery numbers for the first quarter of 2021. While Q1 has always notably been a slow start for Tesla, this year the brand blew past basically everyone’s expectations.
While Tesla has been riding the momentum of a record-breaking Q4 2020, almost reaching 500,000 deliveries for the year, it was not expected that they would set another record-setting quarter. The first quarter is noticeably slow for many automakers and Tesla is in the midst of transitioning to the refreshed Model S/X, further lowering the numbers of deliveries.
Yet it seemed to not matter as it beat the previous record of 180,570 deliveries, despite the slower seasons and essentially no Model S/X. Tesla wrote:
In the first quarter, we produced just over 180,000 vehicles and delivered nearly 185,000 vehicles. We are encouraged by the strong reception of the Model Y in China and are quickly progressing to full production capacity. The new Model S and Model X have also been exceptionally well received, with the new equipment installed and tested in Q1 and we are in the early stages of ramping production.
The breakdown is as follows:
| Production | Deliveries | |
|---|---|---|
| Model S/X | 0 | 2,020 |
| Model 3/Y | 180,330 | 182,780 |
| Total | 180,330 | 184,800 |
Not only was Tesla able to beat their delivery record, they also produced more cars than in Q4 2020 despite not making a single Model S/X. As always, these aren’t the final numbers, those will come around whenever Tesla holds their earnings call.
Honestly, this is very impressive and exceeds even my own expectations for what we would see this quarter. Tesla has been producing and delivering so many Model 3/Y that it basically doesn’t matter if the Model S/X even exists. Had Tesla not just got done with a refresh I wouldn’t have been surprised to see people speculate about the end of the luxury models.
With the unofficial annual goal looking to at least be about 750,000 cars, Tesla is off to a good start. If they are able to have three more quarters with even minuscule improvements, then they already meet the mark. That doesn’t even include deliveries of the Cybertruck which people have started speculating could start by late summer or early fall.
What do you guys think the annual deliveries will end up being? Let us know down in the comments.
Source: Tesla
