Electric carmaker Tesla remains confident about exceeding 500,000 vehicle deliveries in 2020, despite COVID-19 related shutdown delays.
The company, which posted its strongest first quarter result yet, however, said it remained uncertain about how soon it could ramp up production at its US factories. It expects a gradual production ramp up of its Model 3 cars at the company’s Shanghai factory, and Model Y units at its factory in Fremont in Q2 2020, after being hit by delays due to China’s lockdown to contain COVID-19.
Given the current global challenges related to the pandemic, the automaker suspended its short-term earnings guidance for the quarter and announced it would revisit it in Q2 2020, depending on how the global economic situation pans out.
The construction of Tesla’s Gigafactory in Berlin is on schedule, the company reported, and remains on track to begin the production of its Model Y by 2021.
During the first quarter, the company’s total production grew by 33pc to 102,672 units from 77,138 units in Q1 2019. Of the total production, Tesla produced 15,390 units of Model S/X, rising by 9pc from 14,163 units in Q1 2019. The bulk of the company’s output came from a 39pc rise in its Model 3/Y production, which grew to 87,282 units from 62,975 units.
The company sold 88,496 cars during Q1 2020, up by 40pc from 63,019 cars sold during the same quarter in 2019, but down by 21pc from 112,095 cars sold in Q4 2019. Sales of Tesla’s Model S/X grew by 1pc in Q1 2020 to 12,230 cars, but declined by 37pc from 19,475 units sold in Q4 2019. Similarly, Model 3/Y sales increased by 50pc to 76,266 units during the quarter from 50,928 cars sold in Q1 2019, but fell by 18pc from 92, 620 cars of that model sold in Q4 2019.
Tesla’s revenue grew by 32pc to $5.9bn in the first quarter from $4.5bn during Q1 2019, yet declined by 19pc from $7.3bn in Q4 2019. The company’s Q1 2020 adjusted EBITDA grew 514pc to $951mn from $155mn during the same quarter last year, and decreased by 19pc from $1.2bn in Q4 2019.