Tesla exceeds own expectations

Tesla announced on Sunday that the company had shipped 308,600 electric vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2021, beating both the previous record for a quarter and analysts' expectations. The automaker produced a total of 305,840 fully electric vehicles in the same period.

For the full year, Tesla delivered 936,172 vehicles, an 87% increase from 2020 when the company reported its first annual profit on deliveries of 499,647 vehicles.

Vehicle deliveries reached 241,300 in the third quarter of 2021, Tesla's best quarter to date.

According to a consensus compiled by FactSet, Wall Street analysts had expected Tesla shipments of 267,000 in the fourth quarter and 897,000 for the whole of 2021.

The deliveries are the closest approximation to sales reported by CEO Elon Musk's electric car company.

Tesla summarizes the delivery figures for the higher-priced vehicles Model S and X as well as the cheaper vehicles Model 3 and Y. The company does not break down sales or production numbers by region.

Deliveries of the flagship Model S sedan and the Falcon Wing SUV Model X accounted for almost 3% of Tesla's total deliveries in 2021. Model 3 and Model Y shipments were 296,850 in the final quarter of 2021 and 911,208 for the full year.

Tesla makes the Model 3 and Model Y at its factories in Shanghai and Fremont, California, while the Model X and Model S are only manufactured in Fremont.

Dismiss scarcity At Tesla's annual shareholders' meeting in 2021, Musk lamented a year marked by supply chain problems that made it difficult to source enough microchips and other unspecified parts.

During the second year of a global coronavirus pandemic, Tesla increased vehicle deliveries by ramping up production at its first overseas factory in Shanghai and making engineering changes to vehicles produced in Fremont, California so that some parts could be omitted entirely.

In May, Tesla announced that it was removing radar sensors from Model 3 and Model Y vehicles built for customers in North America. These vehicles now use a camera-based system to activate Tesla's driver assistance functions such as the traffic-dependent cruise control or automatic lane keeping.

view in the future Musk has announced that he plans to grow Tesla's vehicle sales to 20 million vehicles a year over the next nine years. To achieve that growth, Tesla will begin production of the Model Y crossover at its new Austin, Texas factory later this year. After that, another factory is to be opened in Brandenburg, Germany.

The company recently relocated its headquarters to Texas. The CEO announced the plan in October, and Tesla made it official in early December.

Last month, Musk wrote on Twitter, with around 68.4 million followers, "Giga Texas is an investment of more than $ 10 billion over time that will create at least 20,000 direct and 100,000 indirect jobs." According to public records, Tesla plans to invest $ 1.6 billion in the Austin, Texas factory that is currently in operation in the first phase.

Despite the progress and ambitions in Texas, Tesla has postponed mass production of its Cybertruck, a downright edgy pickup truck, to 2023. The semi and the redesigned roadster are also still in the works.

Outlook on the industry The company now dominates sales of battery-powered electric vehicles in the United States and much of the world. However, it is expected to lose overall market share as competitors bring their own all-electric models to market.

Toyota, for example, has told investors it will invest $ 35 billion to bring 30 battery electric vehicles to market by 2030. Rivian recently started delivering its battery-electric pickups and SUVs. And Ford stopped taking reservations for its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck after placing 200,000 orders.

Tesla sales are expected to increase with general demand for electric vehicles, driven in part by climate regulation.

Hoping to reduce traffic-related air pollution, states like California and New York are following the lead of several European countries and cities in setting a date by which they will ban sales of most gas-powered vehicles. Alix Partners predicts that around 24% of new vehicles sold worldwide will be fully electric by 2030.