Tesla Inc. has released its fourth quarter and full year full-year results and assured investors that it is on schedule to produce its long-awaited Model 3 electric car.
Tesla Inc. is ramping up spending before the launch of the Model 3, leading to a reported net loss of $121.3 million in the fourth quarter.
Tesla reported revenue of $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter, topping Wall Street’s target of $2.18 billion and an increase of 88 percent from $1.2 billion in 2015. An increase in vehicle deliveries — up 27 percent to 22,252 from 17,478 — helped drive the surge in revenue.
The automaker said it is on track to begin Model 3 output in July with deliveries beginning in the second half of 2017. Tesla temporarily halted production at its Fremont, Calif., plant this month to prepare for the Model 3, and began test vehicle production this week.
The company plans to produce 5,000 Model 3 electric vehicles per week before the end of the fourth quarter of this year, and reach 10,000 per week “at some point in 2018,” Tesla said in its shareholder letter.
During the fourth quarter, the company said it received a record number of orders for its Model S electric sedan and Model X SUV, and it expects to deliver 47,000 to 50,000 Model S and Model X vehicles in the first half of the year.
The company intends to produce 500,000 vehicles annually by the end of 2018 and 1 million vehicles by 2020.
Tesla also said production has begun at its Gigafactory on battery packs for its cars and for electrical storage at homes, businesses and utilities. And more Gigafactories are on the way. Tesla said it expected to finalize locations “for Gigafactories 3, 4 and possibly 5” soon.
The company already has one Gigafactory in Nevada, where it makes batteries and will make Model 3 components, and a second factory in New York where it makes solar power products.
