Tesla first-quarter deliveries beat estimates - Reuters

By Reuters Staff

(Reuters) -Tesla Inc on Friday posted record deliveries for the January to March quarter, beating Wall Street estimates, as sales gains of the Model 3 and Model Y offset the impact of a global shortage of parts.

FILE PHOTO: A Tesla logo on a Model S is photographed inside of a Tesla dealership in New York, U.S., April 29, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

“We are encouraged by the strong reception of the Model Y in China and are quickly progressing to full production capacity,” Tesla said in a statement.

“The new Model S and Model X have also been exceptionally well received ... and we are in the early stages of ramping production,” it added.

Tesla’s Shanghai factory started production of the Model Y late last year in the key market where it already produces Model 3 sedans. In February, Tesla’s China sales jumped 18% from the previous month even as demand usually falls during China’s Lunar New Year holidays which occurred that month.

The electric-car maker delivered 184,800 vehicles globally during the first quarter, above estimates of 177,822 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data.

This also exceeds its previous record of 180,570 achieved last quarter.

In February, Tesla suspended its California plant for two days due to “parts shortages,” at a time when Detroit automakers including General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co halted some of their factories for several weeks.

Other automakers on Thursday reported a rebound in first-quarter U.S. sales from a coronavirus-induced slump last year, but volumes were capped by a global chip scarcity that forced many companies to cut production.

Tesla delivered 2,020 Model S/Xs in the first quarter, compared with 18,920 in the preceding quarter, ahead of model refreshes.

Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber said sales declines of the pricier and more profitable cars would lead to weaker margins for Tesla in the first quarter, but he forecast “blowout” results for the second quarter.

Tesla has become the most valuable auto company in the world by far, despite production that is a fraction of rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen AG and GM.

Reporting by Akanksha Rana and Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru and Hyunjoo Jin in San FranciscoEditing by Matthew Lewis

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