At the beginning of this year, Tesla set out with a guidance of delivering at 360,000-400,000, a feat that was not exactly small and would almost require the company to surmount a quarterly milestone of delivering over 100,000 cars to reach such a target. Today Tesla released their preliminary numbers and it looks like the company has smashed all expectations for this quarter.
The numbers are in for the fourth quarter of 2019 and this is what Tesla accomplished:
| Production | Deliveries | Subject to lease accounting | ||
| Model S/X | 17,933 | 19,450 | 14% | |
| Model 3 | 86,958 | 92,550 | 7% | |
| Total | 104,891 | 112,000 | 8% | |
As always, Tesla states that these numbers are rather conservative and are subject to about an up to 0.5% change from the final number. Regardless, 112,000 cars delivered is no small feat, especially with last quarter resulting in the company just barely missing out on the 100,000 mark. It was easy to assume that Tesla might get discouraged and that was their best shot at hitting the mark, but they more than exceeded expectations this quarter and reaching their stated yearly guidance.
This rounds up the yearly deliveries to about 367,500 vehicles which is about a 50% increase over the past year marking incredible growth for the company and is a good indicator of the success of Tesla future plans.
The company also released an update regarding its Shanghai Gigafactory along with its delivery numbers:
We continue to focus on expanding production in both the US as well as our newly launched facility in Shanghai. Despite breaking ground at Gigafactory Shanghai less than 12 months ago, we have already produced just under 1,000 customer salable cars and have begun deliveries. We have also demonstrated production run-rate capability of greater than 3,000 units per week, excluding local battery pack production which began in late December.
It’s important to point out that this quarter did not have any of Tesla’s usual end of quarter scrambles where they throw out various discounts or referral bonuses at the end of the quarter to get the numbers up. The only possible incentive at the end of Q4 was the ending of Tesla’s federal tax credits, but at a reduced rate of $1,875 we doubt that it played a huge part in driving sales as it is not that large enough of an incentive to FOMO in on.
With Gigafactory 3 nearing completion and rumors of the Model Y starting its production in early to mid-2020 instead of early 2021, it will be interesting to see what kind of guidance Tesla will set itself for 2021 during the Q4 earnings call.
Additionally, trying to build a car from Tesla now yields a wait time of four to seven weeks for all models and in regards to new inventory within a 200-mile radius of me, Tesla is only showing one Model S and seven Model Xs with no Model 3s. We wonder if Q1 2020 will see a small dip in deliveries as the company builds their inventory back up and some people hold off to buy a Model Y.
Time will tell, but one thing is for sure. Tesla can pat themselves on the back for this quarter.
What do you guys think? How much will be achieved by Tesla in 2020? Let us know down in the comments below.
