Tesla posts all-time record deliveries amid headwinds

Tesla says it delivered more than 400,000 electric cars to customers in quarter four of 2022, up 31 per cent over the Q4 figure from 2021.

The company additionally reported calendar-year 2022 deliveries of more than 1.31 million cars, 40 per cent greater than it achieved during 2021.

To put Australia into context, Tesla claimed 17,328 cars delivered to the end of November, meaning it should finish up around the 20,000 mark for the full-year 2022.

Production levels exceeded deliveries in both cases – suggesting there’s vehicle inventory that needs clearing amid a context of inflation, rising interest rates, and a slowdown in China.

Tesla also reportedly offered US consumers $7500 to take delivery of the Models 3 and Y before year-end, against Musk’s typical policies around discounting and suggestive of demand issues.

“We continued to transition towards a more even regional mix of vehicle builds which again led to a further increase in cars in transit at the end of the quarter,” Tesla claimed for its part.

The Model 3 and Y platform cars did most of the heavy lifting, accounting combined for about 95 per cent of overall Tesla delivery volume.

“Thank you to all of our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve a great 2022 in light of significant COVID and supply chain related challenges throughout the year,” the company added.

Tesla says it will post its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31 after the market close on Wednesday, January 25 of 2023.

Tesla shares have had a torrid time lately as the market speculates around increasing EV competition and headlines around Elon’s management of Twitter. They sat at $400 US this time last year, and now sit at $122.

Quarter 4 2022

Calendar year 2022