The strong fourth quarter of 308,600 vehicles gave Tesla 936,000 full-year sales, 87% higher than 2020’s total sales, and surpassed the 900,000 mark set by many analysts.
“Taking a step back, auto space and logistics issues due to chip shortages have caused these delivery numbers to plummet jaw globally,” said Don Yves, a researcher at Wetbush Securities, in a statement to customers Sunday. Tesla sales of 265,000 in the fourth quarter Wall Street forecasts full-year sales to be 892,000, he said. Yves says Tesla’s easily destroyed 900,000 sales target is “the best case number in the street view”.
Other automakers are expected to report lower fourth-quarter sales when US numbers are released this week. Tesla not only reported global sales, but industry-wide, global auto sales are expected to be widely lower in the fourth quarter.
“The industry ran out of vehicles and sales stalled in the second half,” said Charlie Chesbro, chief economist at Cox Automotive. “Wholesale sales in the second half of 2021 were the slowest in a decade. Demand was healthy, but supply and production disruptions gripped the industry. You can not sell what you do not have.”
While Telsa’s share of the EV market will decline slightly due to new competition, demand for EVs is still growing, allowing Tesla to continue to report strong growth.
“Despite the many competitors in the EV space, Tesla continues to dominate market share this quarter, while battling chip shortages,” Ives said.
With new factories near Austin, Texas and Berlin set to begin full-scale production by 2022, Tesla predicts that its annual global sales growth will be better at 50% or at least the next few years.
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