Tesla managed to break Q1 delivery records despite COVID-19 crisis, shares up 17%

Tesla has announced its production and delivery numbers for Q1 2020, ending March 31, and surprised pundits with unexpectedly good performance, beating predictions by a significant margin.

Despite the growing economic crisis around the world, and the general reduction in subsidies for  EVs in Europe, USA and China, the company managed to deliver 88,400 vehicles, up 40% from 63,000 deliveries in Q1 2019.

Production also exceeded 5 figures, with Tesla producing 102,672 cars, up from 77,100 a year ago. Tesla says actual delivery numbers may end up being higher, as they only count a car as delivered if it’s already transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct.

The bulk of the deliveries were Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, with 87,282 of the two models produced and 76,200 units delivered, while 15,390 were Model S and Model X cars produced and 12,200 delivered.

Calling it their”best ever first-quarter performance,”  Tesla noted that Giga Shangai contributed significantly to their performance, saying “our Shanghai factory continued to achieve record levels of production, despite significant setbacks.”

Tesla nevertheless felt an impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, saying numbers could have been higher were production not slowed down due to virus-related issues at its Fremont, California and Shanghai plants.

Given the usual long lag between orders and deliveries for Tesla cars, one can’t help feel Q2 2020 may see a bigger impact of the pandemic and its effect on the economy. Investors nevertheless responded enthusiastically to the news, with Tesla’s share price 17% up in after-hours trading.

Via Ars Technica