Tesla posts record quarterly deliveries, but below expectations

revealed Tesla on Monday announced record production and delivery of electric vehicles It fell short of Wall Street’s estimates for the fourth quarter of last year, though, after the company was saddled with logistics issues, slowing demand, high interest rates and recession fears.

The world’s most valuable automaker delivered 405,278 vehicles in the final three months of 2022, compared to Wall Street expectations of 431,117 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data.

The company had delivered 308,600 cars in the same period of 2021, as reported by “Reuters”, and viewed by “Al Arabiya.net”.

Tesla delivered 388,131 Model 3 compact sedans and Model Y SUVs, compared to 17,147 Model X and Model S vehicles.

In total, Tesla built 439,701 cars in the fourth quarter.

And with logistics bottlenecks continuing — a problem CEO Elon Musk said in October he was working to resolve — Tesla’s fourth-quarter production deliveries were about 34,000 vehicles lower than expected.

In the third quarter, the company’s shipments fell short of production by about 22,000 units.

Delivering fewer cars is a rarity for the automaker, which has delivered a greater or similar number of cars produced on a quarterly basis in previous quarters.

Analysts also pointed to weak demand in the world’s largest auto market in China, as well as stiff competition from legacy automakers like Ford Motor and General Motors, as well as startups like Rivian and Lucid.

Tesla plans to execute a reduced production schedule in January at its Shanghai factory, extending the cuts that began in December.

Tesla shares, which didn’t trade on Monday due to the New Year holiday, fell 65% in 2022, the worst year since going public in 2010.

Analysts and retail shareholders fear demand issues stemming from a murky outlook on the economy will affect the company’s goal of 50% annual growth in shipments.

The electric car maker has hinted at the “Generation 3” platform, details of which will be unveiled at the company’s “Investor Day” in March.

Musk said in October that Tesla was working on a “next-generation car” that would be cheaper and smaller than Model 3 and Model Y cars.