Tesla is poised for another record-breaking sales performance in 2023, despite a noticeable slowdown in deliveries during the three months ending on September 30.
Tesla reported shipping 435,059 cars worldwide in the third quarter, marking its first drop in deliveries in over a year due to factory shutdowns. This figure fell short of expectations, as the company temporarily closed factories for retooling and model upgrades, particularly at its massive Shanghai factory in China, where both the S and Y models underwent enhancements.
Tesla affirmed in its statement that it remains on track to achieve its target of 1.8 million deliveries by the end of December.
Third-quarter deliveries (the metric Tesla uses to assess performance) surged by 27% compared to the same pandemic-affected quarter in 2022 when 343,830 deliveries were made.
Moreover, deliveries for the first nine months of 2023 totaled 1.324 million, surpassing the total deliveries for all of 2022, which stood at 1,313,951 units. This means that the just-commenced fourth quarter will bring Tesla closer to its 1.8 million target. To achieve this, the company will need to reach an all-time high of more than 487,000 deliveries.
Production figures for the first three quarters of 2023 totaled 1.351 million units, which is over 30% higher than the 908,573 units produced during the same period in 2022, which was significantly impacted by Covid restrictions, particularly in China and its large Shanghai factory, which faced multiple shutdowns.
While Tesla became the top-selling vehicle (of all types) in New Zealand for the second month in the last quarter, this achievement did little to offset the EV maker's revealed shortfall in the expected number of vehicles delivered worldwide in the third quarter. The New Zealand data, though impressive, paled in comparison to the company's global delivery figures. Tesla's Model Y narrowly surpassed Toyota's RAV4 in passenger car and overall registration honors in New Zealand, with 697 and 683 registrations, respectively.
