In the second quarter of this year, as reported by Tesla, they manufactured 206,421 cars, of which 201,250 cars were sold. Wall Street estimated that Tesla would sell 201,000 cars, close enough to the original number.
To boost their numbers recently, they even changed VINs for the customers who are far away from the factory. Then delivered to the nearby customers. It was only a small fraction of their total deliveries.
, Also, the sales improved from the Q1 sales. In the first quarter, only 184,800 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. Furthermore, 199,360 Tesla cars were Model 3, and 1,890 cars were Model Y. Tesla coped up with chip shortage, despite the increase in prices number of cars sold were not affected this quarter. Most of the models sold were cheaper ones.
However, some analysts share their disappointment. Garrett Nelson, an equity analyst at CFRA Research, said, “It was a solid quarter to volume-wise, but I view it as a modest disappointment”. Additionally, FactSet predicted that Tesla would sell 207,000 vehicles this quarter, higher than the actual sales.
2021 sales
By the second quarter, Tesla sold 386,050 cars and expected to have 50% delivery growth this year. Tesla usually doesn’t mention its sales as China or America. Below is the table, as published by Tesla.
Elon Musk also shared his delight upon delivering more than 200,000 Tesla cars. Despite the challenges like production quality and chip shortage, that was a good number. In addition to selling their cheaper cars, they have been working on Cybertruck and their premium Sedan’s delivery processes. Tesla Model S Plaid deliveries started in June.
Congrats Tesla Team on over 200,000 car built & delivered in Q2, despite many challenges!!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2021
Challenges
Especially during Q2, Tesla experienced various changes. Former General council AI Prescot left Tesla in April. Later, Lynn Miller, former deputy general counsel, and Jerome Guillen, former automotive and heavy trucking president, quit Tesla in June.
In between, Tesla had to make changes with their car models. On June 1, Elon Musk stated the reason for Tesla removing lumbar. Most users didn’t use the feature; it was considered not worthy of adding for every car.
Moving lumbar was removed only in front passenger seat of 3/Y (obv not there in rear seats). Logs showed almost no usage. Not worth cost/mass for everyone when almost never used.
Prices increasing due to major supply chain price pressure industry-wide. Raw materials especially.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2021
Many eyes were on Tesla’s Q2 deliveries as Elon Musk mentioned supply chain pressure and price pressure. Tesla’s sales in April were low comparatively, and there was some uncertainty by the end of May. But the numbers improved compared to the first quarter.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said, “Overall, the bulls are breathing a sigh of relief with these delivery numbers.”
