Tesla Q4 deliveries beat estimates despite supply chain woes

[BENGALURU] Tesla Inc reported record quarterly deliveries that far exceeded Wall Street estimates, riding out global chip shortages as it ramped up China production.

It was the sixth consecutive quarter that the world's most valuable automaker posted record deliveries.

Tesla, led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, delivered 308,600 vehicles in the fourth quarter, far higher than analysts'forecasts of 263,026 vehicles.

Tesla's October-December deliveries were up about 70 per cent from a year earlier and nearly 30 per cent higher from record deliveries the preceding quarter.

Tesla ramped up production in China even though competition rose and regulatory pressure mounted following consumer complaints over product safety.

Tesla ships China-made models to Europe and some Asian countries.

Tesla said it sold a total of 296,850 Model 3 compact cars and Model Y sport-utility vehicles in the fourth quarter.

On an annual basis, the automaker boosted its deliveries by 87 per cent from a year earlier to 936,172 vehicles in 2021.

Tesla's 2020 deliveries fell slightly shy of its goal of half a million vehicles. Musk said in October last year that Tesla will be able to maintain an annual growth rate of more than 50 per cent for "quite a while."

The company is expected to boost its sales further this year, although there is uncertainty about how quickly it will increase production at new factories in Texas and Berlin.

Tesla said in October that it aimed to build its first production cars at both facilities by the end of 2021, but it is not known whether it met that target. Tesla did not respond to a question from Reuters about the plants. Its Berlin factory had initially been scheduled to begin production last summer.

Credit Suisse expects Tesla to boost deliveries to 1.3 million vehicles in 2022, forecasting that production increases at existing factories in the United States and China will help offset slower production growth at its new factories.

Tesla hit over US$1 trillion in market capitalisation in October after rental car company Hertz said it was buying 100,000 of its vehicles.

The company's shares lost some ground after Musk wrote on Twitter in November that he was considering selling 10 per cent of his stake in Tesla.

Overall, Tesla shares gained 50 per cent last year.

REUTERS