In brief: Tesla on Friday said it delivered nearly 140,000 vehicles during the third quarter of 2020, a new record for the electric automaker. Even still, share value in Tesla is down nearly four percent on the day as of writing, likely a byproduct of a larger selloff sparked by news that President Trump tested positive for Covid-19.
Tesla said it produced 16,992 Model S / X vehicles during the quarter and delivered 15,200 units to customers. Model 3 / Y production hit 128,004 units, with 124,100 being successfully delivered to buyers. Collectively, that adds up to 145,036 vehicles produced and 139,300 delivered.
According to CNBC, analysts anticipated deliveries of 137,000 vehicles for the three-month period.
In comparison, Tesla produced just 82,272 vehicles in the previous quarter and delivered 90,650. While substantially less than the most recent quarter, it was still impressive as it took place during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic when stay-at-home orders forced millions to shelter in place, impacting manufacturing around the globe.
The company's previous best performance occurred in Q4 2019 with 112,000 deliveries.
Tesla said early this year that it expected to deliver at least 500,000 vehicles in 2020, but that was before the pandemic. As of September 30, the company has delivered 318,350 vehicles to customers and would need a stellar Q4 to reach the half million mark.
Image credit Ivan Marc, Canadian Photographer56