Tesla produces 260 Model 3 and delivers 220 in Q3, citing “production bottlenecks”

October 2, 2017

Tesla published its Q3 2017 Vehicle Deliveries and Production report shortly after the closing bell on Monday, announcing that it had delivered 220 Model 3 and set an all-time high for total Model S and X delivered per quarter. The Palo Alto-based electric carmaker delivered a total of 26,150 vehicles in the third quarter, of which 14,065 were Model S and 11,865 were Model X. This represents a 4.5% increase over Q3 2016 and a 17.7% increase over Q2 2017.

Tesla also noted that the company will likely exceed its first half deliveries of 47,077 units by “several thousand vehicles”, and on track to deliver approximately 100,000 Model S and X in 2017. Deliveries on the 4,820 Model S and Model X that were in transit at the end of the third quarter will be counted as deliveries in the fourth quarter.

Of note is Tesla’s highly anticipated Model 3 production numbers. Although CEO Elon Musk had previously suggested that Tesla would produce over 1,500 Model 3 units in September, Tesla’s latest quarterly report confirms that the company had fallen short of Musk’s anticipated Q3 numbers and produced 260 Model 3 vehicles in the quarter.

Handover party for first 30 customer Model 3's on the 28th! Production grows exponentially, so Aug should be 100 cars and Sept above 1500.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017

Tesla indicates that Model 3 production numbers were less than anticipated due to production bottlenecks. “Although the vast majority of manufacturing subsystems at both our California car plant and our Nevada Gigafactory are able to operate at high rate, a handful have taken longer to activate than expected” reads the report by Tesla.

Despite falling short by over 80% from Musk’s originally anticipated Model 3 quarterly production numbers, Tesla reassures investors that both the Fremont factory and ever-expending Gigafactory can operate at high rate, and “there are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain.”

Instead, Tesla indicates that the company is confident in addressing the known bottlenecks. “We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term.”

Visit Tesla’s Investor Relations page to see a full report of the company’s Q3 2017 Deliveries and Production report.

Source