Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has announced that it delivered 88,400 units in Q1 topping analysts’ projections although this is was a 21% decline for Q4 2019. The decline was a result of the coronavirus outbreak which has put pressure on demand as well as created logistical issues.
Tesla tops estimates in the number of deliveries in Q1
The electric car manufacturer said that it produced 103,000 cars in Q1 2020 which is 2% less the number produced in the fourth quarter of 2019. The company’s numbers topped most analysts’ estimates with most expecting the low numbers because of the coronavirus pandemic. On average analysts polled by FactSet anticipated 79,908 deliveries in the quarter with IBES data from Refinitiv projecting deliveries of around 93,399 cars.
The company is known to sell its vehicles directly to customers instead of using dealerships and was able to top expectations because it continued its production despite the coronavirus pandemic. With the COVID-19 spread, authorities have ordered non-essential businesses to shut following the shelter-in-place order.
Although manufacturing has been exempt from these orders following pressure for the United Auto Workers union most automakers have been forced to halt production in their factories in the US. Tesla stopped operations at the Fremont factory in California on March 23 but they have continued with deliveries.
First Model Y car delivered
The company delivered its first Model Y cars which it began producing at the start of this year. Delivery of the car began in March and they delivered an aggregate of 76,200 cars of Model Y and Model 3. The company also delivered 12,200 cars of the more expensive and older Model S and Model X cars.
The company’s new giga-factory in Shanghai China has been manufacturing Model 3 cars for customers in China. Tesla says that it is hitting record manufacturing levels even though there have been major setbacks. However, the company didn’t breakdown the production numbers for the Shanghai plant. Delivery of the first Model 3 cars produced at the factory started in January a year after construction of the factory commenced.
