- Tesla delivered 343,830 vehicles in the third quarter of 2022, while it produced 365,923.
- The EV maker has launched two new gigafactories in 2022, and is now seeing some measure of output boost from them.
- The Model 3 and the Model Y still account for the vast majority of EVs produced and delivered, as interest in two of Tesla's less expensive models remains high.
Tesla revealed its third quarter production and delivery numbers to a mixed reception from industry watchers, amid an increasingly complex time in the auto industry.
The EV maker disclosed it produced a total of 365,923 vehicles in the third quarter of this year, while delivering 343,830 vehicles.
Compare this result to a year prior, when Tesla produced 237,823 vehicles and delivered 254,695—a record for the automaker at the time, and before the launch of the Austin and Berlin gigafactories. And in the second quarter of 2022 the EV maker produced 258,580 vehicles and delivered 254,695 vehicles.
The Model 3 and the Model Y once again accounted for the lion's share of cars produced this quarter, with 345,988 examples built, but Model S and Model X deliveries remained a tiny minority, with 19,935 cars produced this past quarter. The disparity is once again a reflection of just how popular Tesla's two smaller (and less expensive) vehicles continue to be, and the role its two older and more expensive models now play.
Despite the seemingly strong results, the delivery numbers disappointed some analysts in this quarter.
"Historically, our delivery volumes have skewed towards the end of each quarter due to regional batch building of cars," the automaker noted. "As our production volumes continue to grow, it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure vehicle transportation capacity and at a reasonable cost during these peak logistics weeks."
In the third quarter of this year production was affected by the slow momentum of the Austin and Berlin gigafactories, the latter of which suffered a fire just days ago, as well as continuing issues at its Shanghai plant, which faced downtime due to covid mitigation measures earlier this year.
The EV maker is believed to be close to announcing a new factory site in North America, likely in Ontario or Quebec provinces, as it seeks to expand its output. Tesla execs are believed to be in discussions with Canadian officials regarding the project.
"In Q3, we began transitioning to a more even regional mix of vehicle builds each week, which led to an increase in cars in transit at the end of the quarter," Tesla added. "These cars have been ordered and will be delivered to customers upon arrival at their destination.
Despite the strong overall results in the third quarter, on Monday of this week Tesla's stock appeared to be dented by a negative reaction to the reveal of its Optimus robot, which was viewed by some industry observers with skepticism and perhaps as a costly distraction from its automotive business, especially during a year in which Tesla otherwise had zero new vehicle concept debuts and zero new production model debuts.
