Tesla shattered its quarterly numbers in late 2019 with 104,891 vehicles produced and 112,000 vehicles delivered. And that’s without an affordable model of the vehicle type most Americans like best.
Fortunately, Model Y looks to be coming sooner than anticipated.
A Tesla charging its battery
A staggering majority of cars Tesla sold this past quarter were the company’s most recent — and cheapest — model, the Model 3. Just 17,933 of the over 100,000 vehicles Tesla delivered were Model S or Model X. Almost 87,000 were model 3, the company said in a press release.
Tesla Q4 delivery numbers: Model S, Model S, Model X
Total year production also hit a record high.
In 2019, we delivered approximately 367,500 vehicles, 50% more than the previous year and in line with our full year guidance.
Clearly, Tesla has delivered good results. What’s interesting, however, is that the company has done it without a mass-market version of a compact SUV, the most popular type of vehicle today.
While the Model X is an SUV, it’s out of reach for most at over $100,000 in many configurations.
What we’ve seen with Model 3 is that it quickly took over the top-selling position in Tesla’s fleet of vehicles. The question is whether the Model Y can do the same.
It’s somewhat less likely, thanks to a higher selling price. While the Model 3 starts at $35,000, the Model Y starts at $39,000. So people who are looking to get into the Tesla lineup at the lowest possible price might not look to Model Y.
On the other hand, it’s not that much more.
So today’s top Tesla sales should be tomorrow’s floor. And not just because of the coming Model Y — which rumors say will arrive sooner than earlier predicted, probably around the middle of the year — but also thanks to new markets, especially China.
Despite breaking ground at Gigafactory Shanghai less than 12 months ago, we have already produced just under 1,000 customer salable cars and have begun deliveries. We have also demonstrated production run-rate capability of greater than 3,000 units per week, excluding local battery pack production which began in late December.
Also coming at some point in the more distant future, of course, is Cybertruck.
That polarizing design might be ugly as sin to some, but to others it’s pure eye candy. The Cybertruck has now has about 150,000 reservations, and while those aren’t the same level of downpayment as a Model Y requires ($100 versus $2,500), it’s still impressive.
The future doesn’t look bright for the most popular investor sport of 2018: Tesla shorting.
