Tesla delivered few Model 3 cars in fourth quarter
Tesla shipped 1,550 Model 3 cars in the fourth quarter of 2017. That’s an increase from the third quarter, but the number still stands in stark contrast to the 15,200 Model S and 13,120 Model X vehicles delivered in the fourth quarter.
According to Tesla, major progress has been made in solving the problems with the Model 3 manufacturing process. According to Tesla, that led to a production number of 793 Model 3s in the last seven days of the quarter.
Meanwhile, the manufacturer would already reach a production rate of more than 1,000 Model 3 cars per week. That would increase to 2,500 Model 3s per week by the end of the first quarter and 5,000 units per week by the end of the second quarter in 2018. However, Tesla remains cautious in forecasting and has not yet announced any target deliveries for the coming quarters.
The manufacturer reports that at the end of 2017, 860 Model 3 models were still on the way to buyers. These will only be included in the figures for the first quarter of 2018. In total, Tesla produced 2,425 Model 3 cars in the past quarter. To reach that number, the production of the Model S and X has been slightly scaled back.
In total, Tesla delivered 29,870 vehicles in the past quarter. According to the manufacturer, this was the best quarter ever for combined deliveries of the Model S and Model X. Combined deliveries of the two models increased by 27 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016 and by an increase from the third quarter of 2017. 9 percent.
Partly due to the production problems with the Model 3, Tesla recorded a significant loss of 532 million euros in the third quarter of 2017. Only 222 copies of the model were delivered in the third quarter, while there should have been 1,500. The manufacturer attributes the slow production rate to the commissioning of a highly automated production process and to problems with battery production. The poor delivery figures may also be related to the fact that more welding is required in the production of the Model 3, as this model consists of a lot of steel in addition to aluminum. The Model S and X, on the other hand, are mainly made of aluminum and that would be easier in terms of assembly.
Production of the cheaper Model 3 started in early July last year, at the beginning of the third quarter. Elon Musk said when he expected that it would be possible to have 20,000 Model 3 models roll off the production line every month from December. However, in November, the company reported that this production number cannot be reached until the end of the first quarter of 2018.