Tesla says Model 3 production rate at ‘over 1,000 per week’ and breaks quarterly delivery record with 29,870 vehicles

Tesla released their fourth quarter and full year 2017 delivery and production results today after market close.

As expected, Tesla achieved record deliveries of 29,870 vehicles, but all eyes are on Model 3, which accounted for 1,550 units of the total. As for production, the company says that it achieved a production rate in the last few days of 2017 that translates to “over 1,000 Model 3’s per week.”

Tesla delivered 47,077 vehicles in the first half of 2017, 26,150 vehicles in Q3, and now this new record in Q4, Tesla has now delivered over 100,000 vehicles in 2017.

In its third quarter shareholder letter, Tesla already announced that they expected “an all-time record for deliveries of Model S and Model X vehicles in Q4” and they delivered on the expectation.

They ended up delivering 15,200 Model S vehicles and 13,120 Model X vehicles.

Additionally, 2,520 Model S and X vehicles and 860 Model 3 vehicles were in transit to customers at the end of the quarter, according to the company.

Here are Tesla quarterly global deliveries of all current vehicles in production since their launches:

As for production of Model S and Model X, Tesla warned that production of its flagship vehicles would be slightly lower during the quarter:

“We plan to produce about 10% fewer Model S and Model X in Q4 compared to Q3 because of the reallocation of some of the manufacturing workforce towards Model 3 production.”

Tesla confirmed Q4 production totaled 24,565 vehicles, of which 2,425 were Model 3’s, which is in line with our expectations from the VINs.

It means that Tesla worked through some inventory to achieved its record deliveries.

But more importantly, Tesla gave some color on Model 3 production rate at the end of the year:

“During Q4, we made major progress addressing Model 3 production bottlenecks, with our production rate increasing significantly towards the end of the quarter. In the last seven working days of the quarter, we made 793 Model 3’s, and in the last few days, we hit a production rate on each of our manufacturing lines that extrapolates to over 1,000 Model 3’s per week. “

The company guides a ramp to a weekly rate of “about 2,500 Model 3 vehicles” per week by the end of the quarter, but they pushed their 5,000 per week goal to “the end of Q2.”

Here’s the press release:

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In Q4, Tesla delivered 29,870 vehicles, of which 15,200 were Model S, 13,120 were Model X, and 1,550 were Model 3. This was once again our all-time best quarter for combined Model S and X deliveries, representing a 27% increase over Q4 2016, and a 9% increase over Q3 2017, our previous best quarter.

In total, we exceeded our previously announced guidance by delivering 101,312 Model S and X vehicles in 2017. This was a 33% increase over 2016.

In addition to Q4 deliveries, about 2,520 Model S and X vehicles and 860 Model 3 vehicles were in transit to customers at the end of the quarter. These will be counted as deliveries in Q1 2018.

Q4 production totaled 24,565 vehicles, of which 2,425 were Model 3. As we previously indicated, we slightly reduced Model S and X production in Q4 because of the reallocation of some of the manufacturing workforce towards Model 3 production, which also caused inventory to decline.

During Q4, we made major progress addressing Model 3 production bottlenecks, with our production rate increasing significantly towards the end of the quarter. In the last seven working days of the quarter, we made 793 Model 3’s, and in the last few days, we hit a production rate on each of our manufacturing lines that extrapolates to over 1,000 Model 3’s per week. As a result of the significant growth in our production rate, we made as many Model 3’s since December 9^th as we did in the more than four months of Model 3 production up to that point. This is why we were not able to deliver many of these cars during the holiday season, just before the quarter ended. Model 3 deliveries to non-employee customers are now accelerating rapidly, and we’re confident our customers will love them.

As we continue to focus on quality and efficiency rather than simply pushing for the highest possible volume in the shortest period of time, we expect to have a slightly more gradual ramp through Q1, likely ending the quarter at a weekly rate of about 2,500 Model 3 vehicles. We intend to achieve the 5,000 per week milestone by the end of Q2.

We’re very grateful to everyone at Tesla who has poured their heart and soul into helping with the Model 3 ramp and creating the progress we are seeing. We’re also very appreciative of our Model 3 customers, who continue to stick by us while patiently waiting for their cars.

Our delivery count should be viewed as slightly conservative, as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct. Final numbers could vary by up to 0.5%. Tesla vehicle deliveries represent only one measure of the company’s financial performance and should not be relied on as an indicator of quarterly financial results, which depend on a variety of factors, including the cost of sales, foreign exchange movements and mix of directly leased vehicles.