Tesla’s new factories in Texas and Berlin have yet to add much to the production totals, the EV maker beat expectations by delivering a record 308,600 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“Great work by Tesla team worldwide!” CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter.
The company reported the results in a press release Sunday. The record production numbers should be enough to keep the stock moving early in 2022, according to Barron’s.
Fourth-quarter deliveries for Tesla grew 71% compared with the fourth quarter of 2020. For the full year, deliveries came in at around 936,000, up roughly 87% compared with the nearly 500,000 units delivered in 2020.
Tesla’s production in the fourth quarter included 296,850 Model 3 and Y vehicles and 11,750 Model S and X electric vehicles.
Total beats expectations
Analysts predicted Tesla would report fourth quarter deliveries of roughly 276,900, according to detailed FactSet consensus figures, Investor’s Business Daily noted. The analysts expected Tesla to build 261,400 Model 3 and Y vehicles and 15,500 Model S and X vehicles.
Investors Daily also reported some Wall Street analysts and private forecasts saw deliveries coming in far north of 280,000, with a few seeing 300,000 as possible. The actual numbers reveal Tesla outperformed the expectations for Model 3 and Model Y deliveries but fell short on the company’s pricier Model S and Model X vehicles.
Tesla delivery results reflect the rapid growth of production at the company’s electric vehicle plant in Shanghai. It also highlights the importance of in two new sites set to crank up shortly.
Tesla has plans for more
CEO Elon Musk previously indicated new factories outside Austin, Texas, and the German capital of Berlin, which is Tesla’s first plant in Europe, will begin building the Tesla Model 3s for sale very soon, although that’s behind the schedule originally forecast. The Austin site will produce the Model Y.
Plans for production of the Texas-built Cybertruck, however, are part of the delay in schedule outlined by Musk, who predicted the uniquely styled Cybertruck would hit production by the end of 2021.
The company’s fourth-quarter production totaled 305,400, with 292,731 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles and 13,109 Model S and Model X units. Early predictions by analysts for 2022 put deliveries at 1.5 million for the full year.
Late Thursday, Tesla announced sizable price increases for the base-model Model 3 and Model Y in China. The base Model Y no longer qualifies for China subsidies, which are 30% lower in 2022.
The production numbers come on the heels of an announcement by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration saying the automaker will recall 475,000 Model 3 and Model S vehicles built between 2017 and 2020 to fix a trunk latch and rearview camera. The recall covers all Tesla Model 3s built between 2017 and 2020.