Tesla Motors reported a record 11,532 deliveries to customers in the second quarter of 2015, and produced a record 12,807 vehicles at its factory in Fremont, Calif., beating its goal of 12,500.
However, it lowered its full-year delivery forecast from 55,000 to between 50,000 and 55,000. Tesla will produce the Model X on the same general assembly line as its Model S sedan, which could slow down overall production if there are snags during the ramp-up of the new product, CEO Elon Musk and CFO Deepak Ahuja wrote in a letter to shareholders.
Tesla reported $955 million in second-quarter revenue, an increase of 24 percent from the second quarter of 2014, according to generally accepted accounting principles. Measured using Tesla’s preferred non-GAAP accounting method, the company’s net loss was $61 million on $1.2 billion in revenue.
Globally, Model S orders increased following the launch of 85D and 70D. In the US, Q2 Model S orders grew almost 30% year-over-year. In Europe, Q2 Model S orders grew more than 50% year-over-year, despite two price increases in the past six months. In Asia, Q2 Model S orders nearly doubled from last quarter, helped by the initial success of a revised China strategy. Encouraged by this improvement, Tesla is increasing its investments in China by planning to grow this year from one to five retail stores located in high foot traffic areas
Tesla said in its second-quarter letter to shareholders that its upcoming fully electric SUV, Model X, “remains on track for start of deliveries in late Q3.” Model X deliveries in Q3 will be “a small number,” management said. Tesla said it has been “building more validation vehicles, executing final engineering and testing work, enabling our new manufacturing equipment and finalizing arrangements with our suppliers.”
Tesla said it will reveal the design of its Model 3 — a $35,000 “mass-market” car — in the first quarter, with deliveries expected to start in late 2017.
Tesla now has 487 Supercharger stations globally. The company is also retrofitting sites with a new liquid-cooled charging cable to allow even faster Supercharging capabilities that it plans to introduce over time.
Gigafactory Progress
Construction on the massive battery gigafactory east of Reno, Nevada, continues, with manufacturing of battery cells, modules and packs beginning early next year. Tesla also said it will ramp up production and delivery of its Tesla Energy suite of batteries for use by homes, commercial businesses and utilities in the fourth quarter.
States like California see energy storage as a critical tool to better manage the electric grid, integrate a growing amount of solar and wind and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Tesla has said that its stationary batteries have the potential to scale faster than vehicle sales.
