Industry
Tesla Inc reported Saturday that vehicle delivery in 2020 was better than expected, driven by a steady increase in electric vehicle adoption, but almost missed its ambitious full-year goal during a year of punishment for the global automation industry.
FILE PHOTO: Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk stands for a television interview following his company ‘s first public offering at the NASDAQ market in New York, June 29, 2010. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid / File Photo
REUTERS: Tesla Inc on Saturday reported better-than-expected 2020 vehicle delivery, driven by a steady rise in electric vehicle adoption, but almost missed its progressive full-year target during a punitive year for industry global automation.
The company delivered 499,550 vehicles during 2020, above Wall Street estimates of 481,261 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data – but 450 units are shy of CEO Elon Musk’s target.
Musk tweeted at https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1345382294966571008?s=21 he was “proud of the Tesla team for achieving this huge milestone.”
“At the beginning of Tesla, I thought we had a chance to (hopefully) 10per percent survive at all,” he said.
On Twitter, he sent congratulations from bullish supporters and investors, praising the electric vehicle maker for its stellar year, which has challenged wider automotive industry trends in terms of declining sales, seasonal losses and global supply chain breaks.
Tesla’s share price has risen more than 700per percent over the past year, the company has reported five consecutive quarterly profits and in December was included in the S&P 500 index .
But some online account investors criticized Tesla for saying it had fulfilled its guidance.
Tesla said in early 2020 it would “comfortably exceed 500,000 units” for the year, a target it has left unchanged despite the pandemic. Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn said in October that Tesla was “aiming to achieve (its) original 2020 direction.”
Tesla has built hopes on new markets such as Europe and Asia, with growing competition in its home turf as legacy makers double their investments in the thriving EV space.
Tesla’s delivery push has received support from its new factory in Shanghai, the only plant currently making vehicles outside of California. Manufacturer https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-q4-2020-vehicle-production-deliveries Y-model production in Shanghai has begun, with delivery expected soon.
California-based Tesla Palo Alto said it delivered 180,570 vehicles in the fourth quarter, a quarterly record for the electric manufacturer, surpassing estimates of 163,628 vehicles.
(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil, Eva Mathews and Derek Francis in Bengaluru and Tina Bellon in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)