Tesla delivered a record 500,000 vehicles in 2020

Tesla broke previous production and delivery records in the fourth quarter of 2020, shipping more than 180,000 vehicles to customers in the past three months. That’s 30% more than Tesla’s third-quarter deliveries, which in itself was a record figure for the company.

For all of 2020, Tesla delivered 499,550 vehicles to its customers. That’s 36% more than the 367,500 vehicles Tesla delivered to customers in 2019.

Tesla does not have enough met the company’s self-imposed goal of half a million deliveries for the year. But the dud is literally a rounding error, and Tesla’s performance in 2020 is still pretty impressive. The pandemic has made 2020 a particularly difficult year for the auto industry. Tesla’s factory in Fremont – like those of most US competitors – was closed between late March and mid-May.

Tesla can be expected to deliver significantly more vehicles in 2021. At its pace of 180,000 vehicles per quarter in the fourth quarter, Tesla is expected to be able to ship over 720,000 vehicles from its factories in Fremont and Shanghai in 2021. On top of that, Tesla aims to bring new factories in Texas and Germany online in 2021. While it may not be possible for Tesla to produce a million vehicles in 2021, it is expected be easily accessible by 2022. Elon Musk has said it aims for Tesla to produce 20 million cars a year by the end of the decade.

Tesla needs to grow quickly to justify its astronomical course. Tesla’s current share price values ​​the company at over $ 600 billion, far more than any other automaker. This is despite the fact that industry leaders like Toyota, Volkswagen and GM each produce millions of vehicles a year, while Tesla produced less than half a million last year. Wall Street is apparently betting that Tesla will become a colossus while enjoying greater profit margins than the incumbents. Tesla will need well over four factories to meet these high expectations.

While Tesla’s vehicle deliveries increased overall, sales of the company’s premium Model S and Model X continued to fall in the fourth quarter. These cars haven’t had a significant refresh in years, giving consumers little reason to pay a premium for them over the new Model 3s and Ys. Tesla delivered 18,920 of these premium vehicles in the fourth quarter. 2020, compared to 19,450 in the fourth quarter of 2019. and way compared to 27,550 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2018.

That trend could be reversed later this year with an expected Model S refresh. Tesla also has several new vehicles in the works. Tesla’s semi-trailer, Cybertruck pickup and a new Roadster sports car are all set to begin production in 2021 – though it seems likely that one or two of them won’t debut until 2022. The expanded product line should allow Tesla to continue. boost production without worrying about saturating the market.