Tesla surges! Global deliveries in Q3 exceed expectations, August Europe YoY growth reaches 53%

Tesla’s global deliveries in the third quarter exceeded analysts’ expectations, providing a sign of stabilization for the electric vehicle manufacturer during a period of market pressure, although deliveries were still down year-on-year.

On Friday, Tesla announced that it delivered a total of 486,532 vehicles worldwide in the third quarter, surpassing analysts’ average estimate of 463,761. New car registrations for Tesla in Europe saw a significant rebound, while sales in the Chinese market declined year-on-year.

The delivery data was released as Tesla has been experiencing a period of declining sales and weak share performance, with intensifying competition and sluggish demand in the US continuing to weigh on the company. Meanwhile, CEO Musk is focusing on shifting the company’s emphasis towards cutting-edge businesses such as artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and humanoid robots.

Following the announcement, Tesla's shares rose 4.5% in early trading, but year-to-date they're still in negative territory. In addition, recent market speculation about a possible merger between Musk's SpaceX and Tesla has fueled a temporary rebound in Tesla’s share price over the past few weeks.

In the third quarter last year, Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles, setting a historical record, as the pending expiry of US federal subsidies spurred a surge in consumer purchases. This year’s third-quarter deliveries marked a drop of about 2% from that peak, but exceeded market expectations by more than 20,000 vehicles.

Despite this, Wall Street generally expects Tesla to achieve moderate growth for the whole year, reversing the annual sales declines seen in the previous two years.

In terms of model structure, the Model Y and Model 3 remain the absolute sales drivers. Apart from these two models, the rest of the lineup collectively delivered only 8,295 units, including the much-discussed Cybertruck.

Previously, Tesla discontinued the higher-priced Model S and Model X, narrowing the consumer-facing range to three models.

To support business expansion, Tesla plans to spend over $25 billion this year to increase factory capacity and advance the Robotaxi business. The company disclosed in a filing this week that it has secured an additional $30 billion in loans and credit lines.

In terms of new products, Tesla has begun producing the steering wheel–less, pedal–less Robotaxi model, Cybercab, and has launched the Semi electric truck. The long-promised new Roadster sports car also remains in the pipeline.

In the energy business, deployment of storage products in the third quarter reached 13.7 GWh, up from 12.5 GWh in the same period last year and slightly above the second quarter’s 13.5 GWh, maintaining a moderate growth trend.

There are notable positive signals emerging in the European market. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Tesla’s new car registrations in the EU rose about 53% year-on-year this August and climbed 66% cumulatively over the first eight months of the year.

Last year, Tesla’s sales in the EU slumped sharply due to a consumer boycott triggered by personal controversies involving Musk. Now, surging oil prices and the influx of Chinese electric vehicles are stimulating overall EV demand, from which Tesla is benefitting.

In contrast, competitive pressure remains intense in the Chinese market. Tesla continues to offer end-of-quarter discounts on the Model 3 and Model Y to maintain market share, but production at its Shanghai factory faces challenges.

According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, of the roughly 86,000 vehicles Tesla produced in China in August, around 36,000 were exported to overseas markets, while domestic deliveries declined compared to the previous month.