Total deliveries Q4 2022: 405,278
Total production Q4 2022: 439,701
Total annual deliveries 2022: 1.31 million
Total annual production 2022: 1.37 million
The closest representation of Tesla’s declared sales is through deliveries. These figures were an all-time high for the Elon Musk-led manufacturer and a 40% increase in deliveries from the previous year.
However, the fourth-quarter numbers fell shy of analysts’ expectations.
According to a consensus of analysts’ estimates compiled by FactSet, as of Dec. 31, 2022, Wall Street was expecting Tesla to report deliveries around 427,000 for the final quarter of the year. Estimates updated in December, and included in the FactSet consensus, ranged from 409,000 to 433,000.
Those more recent estimates were in line with a company-compiled consensus distributed by Tesla investor relations Vice President Martin Viecha. That consensus, published by electric vehicle industry researcher @TroyTeslike, said that 24 sell-side analysts expected Tesla deliveries of about 417,957 on average for the quarter (and about 1.33 million deliveries for the full year).
This year, Tesla scaled up production in Fremont, California, and Shanghai while beginning production at two new factories in Austin, Texas, and Brandenburg, Germany. However, Tesla does not break out production and delivery data by geographic region.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, Tesla said deliveries of its entry-level Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover amounted to 388,131, while deliveries of its higher-end Model S sedan and Model X SUV amounted to 17,147.
In its third-quarter shareholder presentation, Tesla wrote: “Over a multi-year horizon we expect to achieve 50% average annual growth in vehicle deliveries. The rate of growth will depend on our equipment capacity, factory uptime, operational efficiency and the capacity and stability of the supply chain.”
The period ended Dec. 31, 2022, was marked by challenges for Tesla, including Covid outbreaks in China, which caused the company to temporarily suspend and reduce production at its Shanghai factory.
While doing so would put strain on its margins, Tesla also gave significant price reductions and other promotions during the fourth quarter in the U.S., China, and other countries to increase demand.
In a recent email to Tesla staff, Musk asked employees to “volunteer” to deliver as many cars to customers as possible before the end of 2022. In his email, Musk also encouraged employees not to be “bothered” by what he characterized as “stock market craziness.”
Shares of Tesla plunged by more than 45% over the last six months.
Because Tesla electric vehicles are relatively pricey in comparison to a growing number of hybrid and fully electric goods from competitors, numerous analysts raised concern about declining demand for Tesla electric vehicles in December.
Along with competitors ranging from industry veterans Ford and GM to upstart Rivian, Tesla is poised to reap the benefits of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act this year, which includes incentives for domestic production and purchases of fully electric cars.
Retail shareholders and analysts alike attributed some of Tesla’s falling share price in 2022 to a so-called Twitter overhang.
Musk sold billions of dollars worth of his Tesla holdings last year to finance a leveraged buyout of the social media business Twitter. That deal closed in late October. Musk appointed himself CEO of Twitter and has stirred controversy by making sweeping changes to the company and its social media platform.
Shares of Tesla started to rise again in the final days of December 2022, in anticipation of record fourth-quarter and full-year deliveries.
