Tesla misses annual delivery target due to production delays caused by Autopilot upgrade

According to foreign media reports, at the beginning of this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he expected Tesla's annual delivery volume to reach 80,000 vehicles in 2016. Since then, attention from all over the world has begun to focus on Tesla's predetermined goal.

As of the end of August, the company was working hard to increase production and demand for electric vehicles. Unfortunately, Tesla ultimately failed to achieve this goal, but it was not far from its own delivery target. In 2016, Tesla delivered 76,230 electric vehicles, which is a very good result compared to the 50,580 delivered in 2015.

It is reported that the company's production in the fourth quarter was 24,882 vehicles, and the production in 2016 was 83,922 vehicles, an increase of 64% compared with 2015. In the fourth quarter, Tesla delivered 22,220 new vehicles (including 12,700 Model S and 9,500 Model X).

Tesla said that the hardware upgrade of the Autopilot system caused the annual delivery volume to fail to meet the expected target. "Due to the upgrade of the Autopilot system hardware from the end of October to the beginning of December, the short-term production faced huge challenges. The proportion of electric vehicle production in the fourth quarter of 2016 far exceeded the initial plan. We are expected to achieve the planned production target, but the delay in production has caused challenges in delivery this quarter, and we have missed the scheduled delivery time to the European and Asian markets." All the delays caused 6,450 electric vehicles to be unable to be delivered to customers on time. These new cars will be delivered in the first quarter of 2017.

In addition to the 22,200 vehicles delivered in the fourth quarter of 2016, Tesla also plans to deliver 6,450 new vehicles in the first quarter of 2017, which will be included in the company's first quarter 2017 delivery volume.

Electric vehicle demand was very strong in the fourth quarter of 2016, with record net deliveries of Model S and Model X electric vehicles, up 52% ​​year-over-year and 24% quarter-over-quarter from the third quarter of 2016.

Tesla's deliveries are a measure of the company's financial health, rather than relying on its quarterly financial results, which are influenced by many factors, including the cost of sales and foreign exchange rate changes, as well as the impact of other vehicle leases.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.