Electric car maker Tesla has reported a big slump in electric vehicle deliveries in the first quarter, prompting a revised annual target at the low end of expectations as it grapples with rapid expansion into Europe and China.
The company released its quarterly production and delivery figures this week, saying it produced 62,950 Model 3s and 14,250 Model S and Xs in the first quarter of 2019, but only managed to deliver 50,900 Model 3s and 12,100 Model S and Xs.
In terms of deliveries, this is an 8% drop in deliveries for the Model 3 from the prior quarter, and a hefty43% drop in deliveries for the Model S and X.
“Due to a massive increase in deliveries in Europe and China, which at times exceeded 5x that of prior peak delivery levels, and many challenges encountered for the first time, we had only delivered half of the entire quarter’s numbers by March 21, ten days before end of quarter,” the company said.
“This caused a large number of vehicle deliveries to shift to the second quarter. At the end of the first quarter, approximately 10,600 vehicles were in transit to customers globally.”
Tesla said it still expects to reach the lower end of its 350,000-500,000 annual delivery goal as stated by Musk at the quarter four earnings call, but is now aiming for 360,000 to 400,000 deliveries.
Read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven…
