There may be a growing range of serious competitors to the company’s four battery-electric vehicle lines but you’d be hard-pressed to tell based on the record delivery numbers Tesla reported for the third quarter.
With overall demand for BEVs rising fast, the California carmaker more than met the goal of going “super hardcore” set by CEO Elon Musk. All told, Tesla delivered 241,300 vehicles between June 1 and Sept. 30, exceeding the consensus forecast of 220,900, according to StreetAccount. FactSet anticipated deliveries of 227,000 Tesla vehicles.
Tesla’s strong showing came at a time when the industry, on the whole, suffered a notable downturn in sales — a slide reflecting the ongoing shortage of semiconductors that has forced most manufacturers to curb production.
Lofty goals
If anything, the final numbers may be a little short of what Tesla actually accomplished. “Our delivery count should be viewed as slightly conservative, as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct. Final numbers could vary by up to 0.5% or more,” Tesla said in a statement.
The third-quarter total was more than 70% higher than the 139,593 vehicles Tesla delivered during the same period a year earlier. And it positions the company not only to blow through the full-year record set last year but to beat that figure by at least 50%, the target set by CEO Musk. In 2020, Tesla delivered just under 500,000 vehicles. Through the first nine months of 2021, it handed over the keys to roughly 627,000 vehicles.
For the most recent quarter, the automaker’s two newest and smallest product lines, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV, dominated demand, accounting for 228,882 deliveries. The carmaker delivered just 8,941 of its original Model S and X.
Sidestepping shortages
While Tesla was able to keep its momentum going, despite the global chip shortage, it did experience “global supply chain and logistics challenges,” it said in a statement — problems that led to some delays in handing over vehicles. The carmaker did not indicate whether it might have done even better in the quarter had it been able to get all the semiconductors it needed.
The industry, on the whole, has suffered repeated setbacks since early this year due to the shortages. Ford, for one, announced Monday that its sales slid 17.7% in September. The automaker warned that its earnings will drop sharply for the year, as a result of the ongoing production cuts.
Tesla hopes to see its own numbers continue to grow, especially as it prepares to bring on two new production plants, one in Texas, the other in Germany. But it also has been struggling to bring to market some of the additional products it is developing. Those include both the all-electric Cybertruck pickup and the Roadster sports car.
Headaches to come
Those delays could create headaches for Tesla. The longer it takes to get the Cybertruck on the road the more competition it faces from established brands like GMC, Ford and Chevrolet, as well as startups such as Bollinger and Rivian. The latter just launched production of its first model, the Rivian R1T pickup. The GMC Hummer EV will begin deliveries later this year, with Ford expecting to have its F-150 Lightning in production by June 2022. Initial demand for that truck led Ford to announce last month it was doubling capacity at the Lightning plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
All told, the number of long-range BEVs available on the U.S. market is expected to quadruple, to more than 50, by the end of 2022, TheDetroitBureau.com reported.
But Tesla’s early lead, and the brand’s loyal following, is expected to keep it positioned as the BEV segment leader for some time, according to most industry analysts.