Tesla Almost Reaches 2020 Delivery Goal of 500,000 Cars, Despite the Pandemic | Technology

Tesla reported record deliveries of its electric cars in the last three months of 2020, reaching a step closer to reaching the half-million target for the year set by its chief executive, Elon Musk.

Annual sales for the California-based manufacturer increased 36% after a last quarter that exceeded analysts’ expectations, delivering a total of 499,550 cars in 2020.

Tesla delivered 180,570 electric vehicles between October and December, slightly below the general target that Musk had set earlier this year, before the coronavirus pandemic began.

Covid-19 forced the closure of the company’s assembly plant in Fremont in the US in the spring, but Musk asked employees to increase production to reach the target and, last week, offered incentives including free “autonomous driving” options in the $ 10,000 (£ 7,300) worth of Tesla cars whose paperwork and delivery were completed in the last days of December.

Despite apparently missing the mark, Tesla said it “produced and delivered half a million vehicles, according to our most recent guidance,” and Musk hailed it as an “important milestone”.

He tweeted: “So proud of Tesla team for reaching this important milestone! At the beginning of Tesla we thought we had (with optimism) a 10% chance of surviving. “

More than 509,000 cars were produced by the manufacturer in 2020. Production of its Model Y SUV has also started at its Chinese factory in Shanghai, with deliveries scheduled to begin soon, Tesla said.

Tesla’s stock price, which rose eight-fold in 2020, ended the year at more than $ 705, valuing the company at $ 669 billion – 20% of which belong to Musk himself, who is the second richest man in the world. world. It overtook Toyota earlier this year as the world’s most valuable car maker, and last month joined the prestigious Wall Street S&P index, immediately becoming its sixth most valuable listed company.