Tesla delivered record number of 343,830 cars last quarter

Tesla delivered 343,830 cars in the quarter. That is a new record for the company. The vast majority of these are Model 3 and Model Y variants. The company produced a total of 365,923 cars. This means that the company has more undelivered cars than usual in its inventory.

Tesla says it has produced a total of 345,988 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in the quarter and delivered 325,158 of them. 19,935 units of the Model S and X were produced together. Tesla delivered 18,672 of these in the past quarter. The company does not clarify production and delivery figures for individual car models.

The difference between the number of produced and the number of cars delivered was higher than normal in the past quarter. According to Reuters the number of cars delivered in the past quarter was therefore lower than expected by analysts. Tesla produced 22,093 more cars in the quarter than the company has delivered in the same period.

The company claims that some of it has already been sold, but was still in transit at the end of the quarter. Tesla writes that it is “increasingly difficult” to secure transport capacity at a reasonable price during the peak weeks, when most cars are delivered. The company has also started a ‘more regional mix’ of weekly built vehicles. According to the company, that’s why it has more cars than usual in its inventory.

CEO Elon Musk clarified on Twitter that the transport problems mainly concern the last weeks of the quarter. The company says it wants to “smooth the frenzied delivery wave at the end of the quarter” to reduce transportation costs and “stress on the Tesla team.” The company is aiming for more stable deliveries within the quarter, according to Musk.