On Monday, Tesla reported record production and delivery numbers for its fourth quarter, however it still missed Wall Street estimates after struggling with logistics problems, reduced demand, rising interest rates, and increasing borrowing costs, as well as fears of a possible global recession.
In the last three months of the year, the world’s leading electric vehicle maker delivered 405,278 vehicles, compared to Wall Street expectations of 431,117 vehicles, according to Refinitiv.
One year earlier, Tesla had delivered 308,600 vehicles.
Of the delivered vehicles, Tesla delivered 388,131 Model 3 compact sedans and Model Y sports utility vehicles, and 17,147 Model X and Model S luxury vehicles.
Tesla’s total vehicle production for the fourth quarter came in at 439,701 vehicles.
Tesla continued to suffer from logistical bottlenecks, something CEO Elon Musk had noted he was working to resolve in October. As a result, fourth quarter deliveries fell 34,000 units shy of the total production. That is compared to the third quarter, when deliveries fell about 22,000 units short of total production.
Deliveries falling so short of total production is unusual for Tesla, which historically has seen deliveries come in much closer to total production numbers.
Other issues Tesla is confronting include demand weakness in China, the world’s top auto market, as well as increasing competition from startups like Rivian Automotive and Lucid Group, as well as more established automakers who are moving into the electric vehicle space, such as Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co.
In response, Tesla is set to run a reduced production schedule in its Shanghai plant, which will extend a lowered output tempo it first began this month.
Tesla shares, which did not trade Monday due to the New Year holiday, dropped 65% in 2022, which was the stock’s worst performance since it first went public in 2010. Analysts fear that given the economic uncertainty, the company will not be able to make its target to grow deliveries by 50% per year.
Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said, “This was a disappointing delivery number and the bulls will not be happy.”
For its part, Tesla has said in a statement it will livestream its Investor Day, which it will host from its Texas Gigafactory, where it will discuss the company’s long-term plans for expanding in the current environment, and allocating capital.
Tesla also hinted that it will reveal more about its new “generation 3” EV platform. In October, CEO Elon Musk had said the company was developing a new “next-generation vehicle.” He indicated the new model will be smaller and cheaper than the current Model 3 and Model Y vehicles it offers for sale.
