Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors he expects the company produce between 360,000 and 400,000 vehicles in 2019.
Tesla is going to have to have a whopper for a fourth quarter from a production standpoint to meet CEO Elon Musk’s goal of delivering at least 360,000 vehicles in 2019.
The California-based EV maker reported Wednesday that it delivered 97,000 vehicles during the third quarter. It produced 96,155 vehicles, including 16,318 Model S and Model X vehicles and 79,837 Model 3 sedans.
However, the 97,000 units fell short of estimates by Wall Street analysts, who predicted the company would deliver 97,477 vehicles. Additionally, it’s also short of the 100K Musk suggested the company had “a shot” at in a recent email.
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Musk’s company will have to push hard – 105,000 vehicles – to meet the low end of his target range of 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles delivered this year.
He may have pinned his hopes on getting some help from the company’s new Shanghai plant, which is just getting ready to begin production of the Model 3 for sale in China only. He’s set expectations at 1,000 Model 3s a week, but production won’t begin until the end of October and there’s no way of knowing if they’ll hit that target right out of the gate.
However, if the company does meet that target in Shanghai, the 8,000 vehicles and if it matches its third quarter performance in the U.S., it’ll hit that 105k target.
In the meantime, the company’s missed target has impacted its stock price. It dropped nearly 20 points during trading Wednesday before creeping back up to $233.03 a share, down 4.15% overall.
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