Automotive

Tesla delivers a record 95,000 electric cars in 2019 second quarter

Tesla delivers a record 95,000 electric cars in 2019 second quarter
Tesla produced and delivered a record number of Model 3s in the second quarter of 2019
Tesla produced and delivered a record number of Model 3s in the second quarter of 2019
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Tesla produced and delivered a record number of Model 3s in the second quarter of 2019
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Tesla produced and delivered a record number of Model 3s in the second quarter of 2019

Tesla has shaken off an eventful first few months of the year to produce and deliver a record number of cars in the second quarter. Its pivotal Model 3 accounted for a large portion of that, and the company is optimistic it can put in an even greater performance in the coming months on the back of growing demand for its electric cars.

The early months of the year saw Tesla deal with the departure of its CFO Deepak Ahuja, tumbling stock prices, significant debts to contend with and, ultimately, a first quarter loss of around US$700 million.

Its second quarter results paint a much brighter picture, with the company building a record 87,048 cars and delivering a record 95,200. Of those delivered, 77,500 were Model 3s and 17,650 were Model S and Model Xs. To illustrate how the company is tracking, in the same quarter last year, its most productive quarter at the time, it managed to make a total of 53,339 vehicles.

Elon Musk said earlier in the year that he expects Tesla to deliver an estimated 400,000 cars in 2019, and the latest figures suggest that this mightn't be far off the mark.

But just for some perspective, this is still a drop in the ocean compared to other US manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors, who pump out six to seven million vehicles a year, and Japan's Toyota who outputs around 10 million a year (though these legacy automakers produce largely internal combustion cars).

Tesla looks set to build on its numbers in the coming quarter, claiming it has improved its logistics and delivery operations. More importantly, it says the orders taken during the quarter have outstripped its deliveries, and therefore its backlog has continued to build.

Source: Tesla

9 comments
9 comments
Josh!
Model 3 Performance is one of the best bang-for-buck "performance" vehicles you can buy. $62K for a 3.1 second 0-60mph. It's smoking cars twice its price.
Daishi
People dismissed Tesla as niche early on but even in 2014 they outsold expensive smaller brands like Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Maserati, and Jaguar combined even though they only produced about 16,000 vehicles that year. From 2014 to 2015 they had a 60% year over year growth but since launching the model 3 their yearly growth since 2015 has been closer to 100%. They can't continue the explosive yearly growth forever but the question is how big will they be when their growth finally begins to level off? At the current rate if it doesn't slow they would catch the big guys in only a few years. Seeing that their manufacturing capacity has almost doubled year over year for the last few years does a lot to explain their costs. If they stop having to grow as fast they should be able to come closer to profit, if it doesn't they'll catch GM and Ford in volume in only a few years. https://i.imgur.com/ZLqC1G5.png
Don Duncan
Daishi: "If they stop having to grow as fast they should be able to come closer to profit." ?? Since when does need for growth to meet orders inhibit profit? I won't buy for 2 reasons. 1. They promised an expensive but much cheaper car and didn't deliver. 2. Tesla has benefited from massive monetary expansion by the fed resulting in cheap money looking for investments. This NEVER ends well. We will have run-away inflation or a tightening along with a bust, i.e., a much needed correction, or both. Unprofitable companies like Tesla can't survive, nor should they. The Fed/govt. disrupts (corrupts) the money which leads to malinvestment/malemployment and eventual depression (correction). Of course, capitalism will be blamed, not the govt., and socialism will be demanded by the ignorant suffering masses who supported the monopoly by govt. of the monetary system. The govt. will claim to "fix" it with new fiat (unstable) money. Money forced on society by law is dishonest money, undemocratic and destructive to enable a few to benefit at the expense of the 99%. This will continue until people stop trusting a few to govern them. They must self-govern without violence.
jerryd
As been doubling production every yr for yrs and will continue to, just how many yrs until Tesla dominates? Do the math, 6? Since Tesla will have the largest battery supply, it'll dominate just on that.
paul314
Fast growth inhibits profit (as reported quarter by quarter) because buying materials and capital equipment for next quarter's production is an expense booked against this quarter's revenues. That's accounting 101. If you have existing product lines that don't require a lot of ongoing capital investment, you can sometimes hide the new investment for the next generation in those margins, but if you're still in high-growth mode, not so much. (Unless you have utterly ridiculous profit margins, but that doesn't happen so much any more.)
mitchelldobelsky
1. Tesla is making more profit per vehicle sale than any other car manufacturer 2. Tesla has outsold all the other luxury brands put together 3. Tesla is competing with the chinese.....in china. That's class. 4. Tesla just bought the leading battery technology company in the world. The media are advertising driven. No advertising, no income. Tesla doesn't advertise ergo Media dislikes Tesla. Big Oil and Big Gas don't like Electric Vehicles ergo they don't like Tesla. No surprise in any of this when you see the FUD about Tesla.
ljaques
NOW maybe poor Elon can recoup some of his investments. Carry on, Tesla. Keep improving product and increasing production. Made in America!
apprenticeearthwiz
Deepak Ahuja was succeeded by a long term Tesla employee who had been mentored by Deepak for many years and he is still available to do so. Just for a little perspective on the $700 million loss, the debt was $900 million. Tesla is growing around 100% yoy whilst the other large manufacturers you mentioned are contracting and have difficulty adjusting to the transition to EVs which will happen a lot sooner than people think. Given the current rate of battery tech improvement and cost reduction predicts EV price parity with ICEVs by 2025, nobody in their right minds will be buying new ICEVs by then and the legacy makers don't yet have the battery supplies that will need. Mind you China is looking set to pick up any unfulfilled demand.
David V
"400 000 versus 6 million... a drop in the ocean" No that's not a drop in the ocean. Maclaren or Bugatti are drops in the ocean.. That's a fairly big figure for a relatively new company who's production figures will surely rise just looking at the demand and hype surrounding this car and Elon. I had a good look at the model 3 last week - it's still very expensive for what is basically a family sized saloon car. Take off the huge screen and imagine a normal dashboard and I'm just sitting in a really nice saloon car and I'm just not interested in that kind of vehicle. There is no real fun element anywhere. It doesn't have the practical hatchback rear that I can't imagine living without. So it doesn't cut it for me. And it's still very pricey. I'm disappointed he hasn't yet catered to a younger, less affluent urban crowd with kids. Those who really want to go EV by lifestyle not just jumping on the train.