Tesla’s Declining Year: Another Record-Monthly Delivery of EVs and the First Loss from a Microlending Site
The analysts had expected about 1.8 million cars to be delivered in the year, but the company needed to produce just under one million in the next four years in order to meet its 50% growth goal. And despite just missing that goal, it was another record quarter of deliveries for the EV maker, which has been dealing with a number of challenges this year, many of which have nothing to do with Elon Musk buying Twitter.
The company announced a rare sale to clear out inventory last month and it was apparent that there was a decrease in buyers interest in the car. Tesla offered two rebates for buyers taking delivery of a vehicle before the end of the year, initially offering a $3,750 discount then doubling the rebate to $7,500 with two weeks left in 2022.
Customers and employees of Tesla were thanked for helping the company achieve a great 2022, in light of significant Covid and supply chain challenges throughout the year.
It was reported that the number of cars in transit at the end of the quarter increased again due to a more even regional mix of vehicle builds.
Tesla said it delivered 1.25 million of its less-expensive Model 3 and Model Y electric cars, and nearly 67,000 of its higher-end Model X and Model X lines.
It was a year of unique struggles for Tesla, which included flagging demand, an aging lineup, and increased competition from legacy automakers. The stock price of Silicon Valley firm, which was founded by Musk, plunged over the course of the year as a result of his purchase of the micro-lending site. The rout shaved billions from Musk’s own net worth, leading him to claim the unfortunate designation as the first person to lose $200 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Exciting Tesla: How much does it cost to build a new factory? An investor’s opinion of the stock price of Tesla after the Inflation Reduction Act
“We’re super excited about it,” Musk said during an investor day for the company. We are going to expand production at our existing factories. So this is not moving output to anywhere, from anywhere. This is not regular production.
The company estimates it will cost as much as $175 billion to build another plant in order to reach 20 million vehicles, which is more than the total investment it has made in its history.
The Inflation Reduction Act passed last year restored tax credits of up to $7,500 to buyers of the less expensive Tesla cars, the Model 3 and Model Y, as long as their list price is under $55,000. To qualify for the tax credit, the cars must be assembled in North America, so the eventual output from the plant in Mexico should qualify.
After the close of trading on Wednesday, shares oftesla fell more than 5%, although that was up from a larger decline prior to Musk’s presentation. There had been hope by some investors that Tesla
(TSLA) would announce details about a next generation of vehicles. There was no response to the question about the next generation vehicle.
In response to another question from an analyst, Musk said he doesn’t anticipate Tesla ever having more than 10 different vehicles in its product lineup. He derided the broad offerings of competing automakers as simply a “shuffling” of many similar models.