Tesla Has Big Plans for the Year 2016
Despite a downward revision late last year, Tesla Motors did what it set out to do: sell over 50,000 vehicles in 2015. In fact, it moved 50,580 of them. All but 208 were Tesla Model S sedans; those remaining were the company’s new SUV, the Model X. It’s an impressive feat and important milestone for the company, especially considering that even the Tesla fans like us didn’t think the company would be able to hit its guidance.
Ceremoniously, Tesla’s stock sank in the first trading day of 2016, alongside a broad downturn in the indices.
In the fourth quarter alone, Tesla was able to deliver 17,192 Model S vehicles and 208 Model X SUVs. That’s about 75% higher than Model S deliveries during the same quarter of last year. During the period, Tesla said it built 507 Model X SUVs, which is a striking figure considering that for a while, it hadn’t delivered more than 15 or so.
“Model X deliveries are in line with the very early stages of our Model X production ramp as we prioritize quality above all else. That ramp has been increasing exponentially, with the daily production rate in the last week of the year tracking to production of 238 Model X vehicles per week,” the company said in its 8-K filing.
With an idea of how Tesla has responded to developing and producing two vehicles, the big pressure on the company will be seeing how it contends with what is supposed to be an exponential production ramp to an eventual pace of about 1,000 per week.
In all, it’s an impressive show for a company that so far really only has one available model on the market — and one, despite a stream of improvements, hasn’t changed all that much since 2012 (if you discount becoming the quickest four-door car, and one of the closest things we have to a fully autonomous car, and so on).
Moving into 2016, Tesla has a busy docket. First is making progress on the thousands of backorders (reportedly, the company has deposits and orders for over 20,000 of them). Second, the company will be putting the final touches on the Gigafactory, which will open up for production so that Tesla can begin on its third major project: getting the elusive Model 3 ready for its March debut. Lastly, it’s going to be ramping up production of the Tesla PowerWall up to speed.
Take a good look at Tesla right now. In 12 months, it may be a completely different company.
Like classics? It’s always Throwback Thursday somewhere.
