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Blog Tesla Made Nearly 10,000 Model 3s in Q1, Posts Record Production Numbers

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Tesla achieved record vehicle production in the first quarter of 2018, including nearly 10,000 Model 3s, the company said today.

In total, the company manufactured 34,494 vehicles.

“The Model 3 output increased exponentially, representing a fourfold increase over last quarter,” Tesla said in a release. “This is the fastest growth of any automotive company in the modern era. If this rate of growth continues, it will exceed even that of Ford and the Model T.”

First quarter deliveries totaled 29,980 vehicles, of which 11,730 were Model S, 10,070 were Model X, and 8,180 were Model 3.

See the full release below:

Tesla Q1 2018 Vehicle Production and Deliveries

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Q1 production totaled 34,494 vehicles, a 40% increase from Q4 and by far the most productive quarter in Tesla history. 24,728 were Model S and Model X, and 9,766 were Model 3. The Model 3 output increased exponentially, representing a fourfold increase over last quarter. This is the fastest growth of any automotive company in the modern era. If this rate of growth continues, it will exceed even that of Ford and the Model T.

We were able to double the weekly Model 3 production rate during the quarter by rapidly addressing production and supply chain bottlenecks, including several short factory shutdowns to upgrade equipment.

In the past seven days, Tesla produced 2,020 Model 3 vehicles. In the next seven days, we expect to produce 2,000 Model S and X vehicles and 2,000 Model 3 vehicles. It is a testament to the ability of the Tesla production team that Model 3 volume now exceeds Model S and Model X combined. What took our team five years for S/X, took only nine months for Model 3.

Given the progress made thus far and upcoming actions for further capacity improvement, we expect that the Model 3 production rate will climb rapidly through Q2. Tesla continues to target a production rate of approximately 5,000 units per week in about three months, laying the groundwork for Q3 to have the long-sought ideal combination of high volume, good gross margin and strong positive operating cash flow. As a result, Tesla does not require an equity or debt raise this year, apart from standard credit lines.

Q1 deliveries totaled 29,980 vehicles, of which 11,730 were Model S, 10,070 were Model X, and 8,180 were Model 3. Net orders for Model S and X were at an all-time Q1 record, and demand remains very strong. Model S and X customer vehicles in transit were high. 4,060 Model S and X vehicles were in transit to customers at the end of Q1, which was 68% higher than at the end of Q4 2017. An additional 2,040 Model 3 vehicles were also in transit to customers. These vehicles will be delivered in early Q2 2018, which keeps us on track for our full-year 2018 Model S and X delivery guidance.

Finally, we would like to share two additional points about Model 3:

The quality of Model 3 coming out of production is at the highest level we have seen across all our products. This is reflected in the overwhelming delight experienced by our customers with their Model 3’s. Our initial customer satisfaction score for Model 3 quality is above 93%, which is the highest score in Tesla’s history.

Net Model 3 reservations remained stable through Q1. The reasons for order cancellation are almost entirely due to delays in production in general and delays in availability of certain planned options, particularly dual motor AWD and the smaller battery pack. As described above, owner happiness with the product is extremely high.

We would like to thank our customers, suppliers and investors for their continued patience and belief in Tesla.

Our delivery count should be viewed as slightly conservative, as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct. Final numbers could vary by up to 0.5%. Tesla vehicle deliveries represent only one measure of the company’s financial performance and should not be relied on as an indicator of quarterly financial results, which depend on a variety of factors, including the cost of sales, foreign exchange movements and mix of directly leased vehicles.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements herein, including statements regarding future production and delivery of Model S, Model X and Model 3 and expected gross margin and cash flow results, are “forward-looking statements” that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations. Various important factors could cause actual results to differ materially, including the risks identified in our SEC filings. Tesla disclaims any obligation to update this information.

 
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Wow....good points and all true....well except:
1. autonomous driving..rated last in a very shaky "competitive advantage"...first-mover advantage, overcome by just about everyone.
2. Freemont factory.....state of the art, extremely expensive all around, carrying $10 Billion in debt ($4k+/vehicle), with Market cap of $44 billion, burning cash. Stumbling verses every single "certain" performance measures.
3. Battery Technology...Panasonic "cell-technology" available to any OEM...probably at a cost advantage?? LG Technology superior and Toyota will bring to market "Instant-Charge" technology.
4. Energy Storage....Sun City .... do I need to say more
5. EV Market ....you are right, they made the EV Market cool.........and if that is enough to sustain it, I am seriously wrong in my opinion.

1. Pretty poor comparison. Many of those others cannot be used outside of certain areas or above low speeds.
2. Amazing how some people like to say “burning cash”. That is not the case but it sure is catchy.
3. We shall see. Toyota still seems pretty focused on fuel cells.
4. Yes you do. The potential energy storage market is enormous. There can be room for more than one manufacturer. There is certainly more than one ICE manufacturer.

Yup. You are wrong in your opinion.
 
Typical Tesla lemming! Blind to the realities of how a "competitive" OEM operates compared to Tesla. My evidence is this blog (citing totally unbelievable defects of prior Model 3...compared to ANY other OEM new vehicle launch), facts from employees on 40% rework (compared to near PERFECT quality by ANY other OEM), and decades in the automotive industry that suggests that "Musk taking over production (compared to ANY other OEM that actually has someone that knows what they are doing in charge), and late Saturday push to "get them out!". Building a small electric sedan to improve profits is simply crazy....ANY other OEM makes NO money on these entries....they are simply a means of meeting CAFE and CARB standards...allowing they to make money on the other products. Finally, the Model 3 is priced for the "Early Adopters (kinda like Lemmings)" who will pay $50k for a $30k vehicle...and by the end of the year the $7.5k incentive is gone. A company valued at $40+ billion needs to make serious money! I say they will not make it and am short Tesla.
Are you related to Donald Trump?
 
They pitch it like it is the most "amazing accomplishment in automotive history!" ........ what a load of crap! Any OEM in the "modern era" that had this UGLY of a ramp-up of a new vehicle would be considered a massive failure! Considering the "absolute" guarantee by the CEO, the really poor production numbers, and the pushing out of questionable quality vehicles in a panic effort to produce just a couple of thousand a week , this company is doomed!

Sounds like one of the many Android trolls that populate Apple-centric blogs, constantly predicting the imminent failure of Apple. He must be tired of that.
 
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10,000 whole Model 3's - which - at minimum should be 30,000 at 2500/week times 12. They're up to a 1/3 of projection.

If everyone knows that the initial production of a new model takes a while to ramp up, and if everyone knows there are delays - then why did Tesla claim they could ramp up production when everyone knows they cant?

Tesla was not overly optimistic - they were telling a white lie to wall street to forestall the inevitable stock collapse. They knew what would happen with another bad report.

Wall St. does not care on whit about idiots crashing a car on autopilot - and they are smart enough to figure out that the Arizona event was either the back up driver texting or facebooking in the car ignoring what was going on around her - and - it was nighttime and the cyclist had no lights or reflective clothing and the witnesses said she darted out in front of the cars. Thats not the fault of the vehicle.

Stock price drop was management not doing what they said they would do - and the WS folks figuring out that Elon has no idea how to ramp up production right now for the Model 3. Management failure always cause stock drops.
 
They pitch it like it is the most "amazing accomplishment in automotive history!" ........ what a load of crap! Any OEM in the "modern era" that had this UGLY of a ramp-up of a new vehicle would be considered a massive failure! Considering the "absolute" guarantee by the CEO, the really poor production numbers, and the pushing out of questionable quality vehicles in a panic effort to produce just a couple of thousand a week , this company is doomed!
 
40 years in automotive OEM & OEM supplier base. Not surprised this ramp up has had issues, ALL automotive OEM have issues. Tesla is new at 'true' mass production such as Toyota or Ford, and plans are just plans, Tesla is not doomed. Tesla positive talk is to keep morale up on both sides of the delivery agreement.
 
There`s actually been a LOT of evidence, but every time a case shows up it`s "something special" "a sad individual case" an "ICE-fan conspiracy" or just "early production issues".....

Model S DUs and door handles, general panel alignment, paint issues, creaking etc come to mind. Tesla is not putting out quality that resembles their prices yet. It´s gotten a lot better, but for their price range it`s still....eh.

Oh, rubbish. Define "a LOT," especially when you type it in all-caps, and that will be immediately and authoritatively refuted. And all the examples you cite are from years ago.
 
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I have spent decades in the auto industry including factories in USA, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, Thailand, Germany, France, Italy, England, and others....

More than ten different countries? Can't hold a job??? Seriously, tho, your attitude is not all that unusual for someone whose entire career has been spent cranking out IECs.

Speaking as someone who really does own Teslas, my opinion is that they are amazing cars, and I would never willingly drive a gasser again. Tesla alone has changed the landscape of transportation, and forced almost every other manufacturer to push forward with "me too" efforts. If the ICE manufacturers are so great why are their offerings usually two years off in the future and at best tout features that barely match today's Tesla specs?
 
Guys first post is doom and gloom, possibly has ulterior motives.
This Dragon person must be either feeling the short squeeze, his sponsors or friends are feeling the short squeeze, or he's so blind to what's happening (but I doubt it's this one). Bottom line, there's a huge difference between a volume ramp on existing processes vs. a volume ramp simultaneous to a technology ramp. Unbelievable what Tesla is doing. I actually bought 50 more shares yesterday and was prepared to buy more if it went even lower. All the bad news was out there - it could only go one direction (barring some Washington or global disaster). It's guys like KingDragon8 that keep some liquidity when people get scared and believe to doom stories. Nothing against this member, he may be just doing his job and I just may be collecting even more value along the way.
 
And rework after EIGHT MONTHS of production at this level is beyond uncompetitive.......I feel for the workers (and shareholders) that are doing their best and wishing for a dream......

Ok, I no longer credit your decades of experience.

Consumer Reports (your recommended source) cites Fiat as the worst quality of the major car companies.

I am 100% sure I know more people with model 3s than you do - 3 on neighbors and 6 customers. I have two employees with Fiats. Either one of the Fiats have had more issues than the 9 model 3s put together. All 9 of the model 3 owners love their car - the Fiat owners will not buy another one.

I recommend you change your source material and accept Tesla has made the big 3 (and all the other guys) change their direction and race to catch up. The model 3 is already the best selling EV and its lead will surely grow this year.
 
Happy Days in Shortsville!
Ok, I no longer credit your decades of experience.

Consumer Reports (your recommended source) cites Fiat as the worst quality of the major car companies.

I am 100% sure I know more people with model 3s than you do - 3 on neighbors and 6 customers. I have two employees with Fiats. Either one of the Fiats have had more issues than the 9 model 3s put together. All 9 of the model 3 owners love their car - the Fiat owners will not buy another one.

I recommend you change your source material and accept Tesla has made the big 3 (and all the other guys) change their direction and race to catch up. The model 3 is already the best selling EV and its lead will surely grow this year.
Seriously, are you using Fiat as a quality benchmark?! I am talking about the "quality" OEMs. I seriously hope you enjoy your Model 3, it is a close cousin to the absolutely wonderful Model S....I mean you paid a serious premium to be an early adopter, so enjoy it!
 
You said "ANY" capitalized twice. Fiat is included in "ANY" -

This is my last reply to your post.

Typical Tesla lemming! Blind to the realities of how a "competitive" OEM operates compared to Tesla. My evidence is this blog (citing totally unbelievable defects of prior Model 3...compared to ANY other OEM new vehicle launch), facts from employees on 40% rework (compared to near PERFECT quality by ANY other OEM),
 
They pitch it like it is the most "amazing accomplishment in automotive history!" ........ what a load of crap! Any OEM in the "modern era" that had this UGLY of a ramp-up of a new vehicle would be considered a massive failure! Considering the "absolute" guarantee by the CEO, the really poor production numbers, and the pushing out of questionable quality vehicles in a panic effort to produce just a couple of thousand a week , this company is doomed!

An all new line with a herd of new robots is not an everyday thing. I'll bet whatever company you love more would also have had a few bugs to iron out every time they first brought in a new line of robots.
 
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Wow....good points and all true....well except:
1. autonomous driving..rated last in a very shaky "competitive advantage"...first-mover advantage, overcome by just about everyone.
2. Freemont factory.....state of the art, extremely expensive all around, carrying $10 Billion in debt ($4k+/vehicle), with Market cap of $44 billion, burning cash. Stumbling verses every single "certain" performance measures.
3. Battery Technology...Panasonic "cell-technology" available to any OEM...probably at a cost advantage?? LG Technology superior and Toyota will bring to market "Instant-Charge" technology.
4. Energy Storage....Sun City .... do I need to say more
5. EV Market ....you are right, they made the EV Market cool.........and if that is enough to sustain it, I am seriously wrong in my opinion.

You forgot the supercharger network. I can't see myself buying any other EV, regardless of how good they are, until they have banks of maintained fast chargers like Tesla does. Of course, you can say it will happen, and quickly, and I hope it does. But the fact that no other manufacturer has even pulled one permit to date, it sure won't be anytime soon. Just owning another EV (Nissan) I know that other EV manufacturers will do everything to try to steer you away from an EVs and back to ICE. So they will likely need legislation and/or lawsuit settlements, like VW's dieselgate, before they pull one permit voluntarily.

As to all the projections of Tesla's demise, as Mark Twain famously said "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." The same applies to Tesla. Just a short time ago the experts said starting a new US car company was not possible, and even Elon thought Tesla would fail. Today:

Tesla’s Model S outsells Mercedes S-Class, Porsche Panamera, and BMW 6/7 Series combined in the US

Tesla Model S outsells Mercedes S Class and BMW 7 Series in Europe

I watched Sirius (SIRI) go through some very difficult times, much worse than Tesla, and they survived. When you have this much invested it's really hard to go belly up. Suppliers will usually take losses rather than nothing and a buy out that keeps the company alive seems more likely than flushing everything down the drain. But even a buy out for cash seems a way off. It's not like Tesla doesn't have an income stream, and the potential for so much more. I think Tesla has tough times ahead but calling them dead is premature -- unless you're a short -- then it's financially wise to try to stop the bleeding any way you can.
 
For the record...your quote "Just a short time ago the experts said starting a new US car company was not possible, and even Elon thought Tesla would fail."....many still do, including myself (at least in its current form)....until the laws of financial physics change, the model won't survive. Toyota produces about 20,000 Camrys per week now and sells them at about 25k intro....the electric market, nor a small sedan, can't sustain the volumes and margins required to be competitive with Tesla's cost structure, or pricing premiums (at least until the Early Adopters spend their money and the federal incentives run out). And its really too bad.....fricking love the S!
 
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This Dragon person must be either feeling the short squeeze, his sponsors or friends are feeling the short squeeze, or he's so blind to what's happening (but I doubt it's this one). Bottom line, there's a huge difference between a volume ramp on existing processes vs. a volume ramp simultaneous to a technology ramp. Unbelievable what Tesla is doing. I actually bought 50 more shares yesterday and was prepared to buy more if it went even lower. All the bad news was out there - it could only go one direction (barring some Washington or global disaster). It's guys like KingDragon8 that keep some liquidity when people get scared and believe to doom stories. Nothing against this member, he may be just doing his job and I just may be collecting even more value along the way.
I sometimes feel like the guy who watched the Pied Piper walk by with the children....he was so cool that nobody really saw it as a problem.
 
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I sometimes feel like the guy who watched the Pied Piper walk by with the children....he was so cool that nobody really saw it as a problem.
I'm super long on Tesla because it's my retirement and I don't need it right away. The real pop always arrives when you least expect it, so I leave it alone. I'm just not sure if it will pop because of Software Sales, Trucking, Energy... Their lawyers probably can't keep up with the innovation. What would Blurr-speed manufacturing innovations be worth to the world? I once had a chance meeting on a plane with a younger GM Concept Designer. He was very frustrated specifically because none of their cool designs were ever tried - too risky. It's like night and day to me. And if we're all wrong, the world likely has some serious problems.
 
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