Tesla attributed the sequential drop in production to “planned downtimes for factory upgrades.” During a recent earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained that the “summer shutdowns” were necessary for recent product upgrades, like the refreshed Model 3 and Model Y that were recently revealed for the Chinese market.
The company said it delivered 435,059 vehicles in Q3, a 6.6 percent decrease over the previous quarter but a 26.5 percent increase year over year.
Tesla missed the target on production and deliveries set by Wall Street investors, leading even some bullish analysts to express disappointment. “In a nutshell, there was nothing to write home about in these numbers and the Street will be left wanting more,” Wedbush’s Dan Ives wrote in a note Monday.
Tesla maintains a production target of 1.8 million vehicles in 2023. With today’s report, the company has produced 1.35 million, meaning it’s about three-quarters of the way to its annual target.
Tesla says it will report its Q3 earnings on October 18th. I’m sure a lot of people will be tuning in to get an update on the Cybertruck, which was supposed to start its very limited deliveries this past quarter. The company had said a delivery event was planned for Q3, but the quarter came and went without an announcement.
In addition to announcements about the China-only (for now) refreshed Model 3 and Y, Tesla also made news this quarter for — what else? — price cuts. The company dropped prices for its base models of the Model S and X, first by introducing Standard Range versions of both vehicles and then by getting rid of those variants and lowering prices for the long-range models.
The last earnings call was notable for two things: soaring revenues and dwindling margins. Investors are worried that the rampant price cutting would continue to eat into the company’s margins, but customers love a bargain and have responded by snatching up many of Tesla’s newly cheaper models.
Tesla is sure to address questions about its prices (will there be more cuts to come?) as well as recent wins around its charging plug standard. New converts to the company’s North American Charging Standard include Jaguar Land Rover and Honda, and more are sure to come. But some companies are continuing to hold out, like Volkswagen, Hyundai / Kia, Toyota, and Lucid.
