Status: 03.01.2022 01:05 p.m.
Tesla delivered almost a million cars in 2021. For the most recent quarter, the US electric car maker reported the sixth delivery record in a row. At the same time, Tesla has to recall around 700,000 older models.
The American carmaker Tesla achieved a delivery record for the sixth time in a row last quarter. In the fourth quarter, 308,600 cars were sold, the manufacturer announced on Sunday. This means that 936,172 Teslas were delivered in the full year, 87 percent more than in 2020 and significantly more than the electric car manufacturer had set as a target at the beginning of the year.
The figure, which is above the experts’ expectations, was achieved primarily through higher production in the Shanghai plant, according to Tesla. The group has made the Chinese Giga factory, which opened in 2019, its new main export center. The vehicles manufactured there are currently also being shipped to Europe and some Asian countries.
Own strategy against chip deficiency
In the last few quarters it became clear that Tesla can defy the rampant semiconductor shortage in the industry better than many of its competitors. While the delivery figures of some providers even decreased – with rising prices – the Americans pursued a different strategy: According to Tesla, it has managed to bypass the bottlenecks by installing other, versatile chips and partially reprogramming the software for this.
The auto analysts at Credit Suisse estimate that Tesla can increase its deliveries to 1.3 million in the new year. Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in October that his company would be able to maintain growth rates of more than 50 percent for “quite a while”.
It is still unclear how quickly production can be ramped up in the first European plant in Grünheide, Brandenburg. According to the Brandenburg state government, Tesla has now submitted the missing documents for the approval process, which are now being examined. Vehicles are already being produced in Grünheide, but only for internal test purposes. This year, Tesla plans to start mass production according to previous plans.
Recalls on two models
Shortly before the turn of the year, it became known that the automaker would have to recall a total of almost 700,000 vehicles due to possible safety-endangering defects in the USA and China.
In the US, all “Model 3” cars built between 2017 and 2020 are affected, according to a document from the NHTSA road safety authority. There are 356,000 vehicles on which the reversing camera could fail. Another 119,000 “Model S” cars run the risk of the bonnet opening unexpectedly. In China, around 200,000 vehicles are affected by the aforementioned safety deficiencies. Tesla generates around a fifth of its sales there.