Tesla shared its latest quarterly production report on Wednesday, sharing some staggering end-of-year stats that the firm claims “likely represent the biggest single-year growth in the history of the automotive industry.” The firm’s annual delivery run rate reached over 350,000 cars, nearly tripling its 2017 rate of 120,000 cars and marking the end of a tough period that led to questions about the company’s viability.
The firm stated in its latest report that fourth quarter car production reached 86,555 vehicles, up by eight percent over the previous quarter and setting a new all-time high for quarterly production. That covered 61,394 Model 3 vehicles, a 15 percent boost over the previous quarter, and 25,161 Model S and X cars that meet the target of around 100,000 of those cars per year. Deliveries in the same quarter reached 90,700, which was comprised of 63,150 Model 3s, 13,500 Model Ss, and 14,050 Model Xs. Tesla claims the Model 3 was the biggest-selling premium car in the United States for the year, double that of its second-placed competitor and the “first time in decades” that an American car held the title.
The Tesla Model 3.
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It has been a tough year for Tesla. It started 2018 by revealing that it only made around 202 Model 3s per week in the previous quarter, well below its expectations of 5,000 per week by December. The firm finally reached this figure by the end of June, after questions swirled about whether CEO Elon Musk would raise capital to avoid failure. Musk later revealed in November that the company faced a “severe threat of death” as it “was bleeding money like crazy.”
The company also used the report to reveal plans to cut the price on its vehicles by $2,000. This comes after the United States federal government started phasing out tax credits on Tesla vehicles, triggered by the firm reaching the milestone of 200,000 electric vehicles sold in the country. The phase-out means that as of January 1, customers will receive a $3,750 rebate instead of $7,500. Tesla’s timing means that users will find themselves out of pocket by a smaller sum of $1,750.
Tesla is expected to face new challenges when it launches another mass market electric vehicle, the Model Y sports utility vehicle, sometime in March.
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