IN BRIEF
Despite the company's history of falling somewhat short of their delivery targets, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk told investors that he's certain they will reach target production numbers for the Model 3. The company expects to produce 5,000 units each week by December 2017 and 10,000 units per week by the end of 2018.
Historically, Tesla has had problems hitting their aggressive projections. While the company did reach the low-end of their target delivery range for 2014 and 2015, they’ve struggled to reach their quota in specific fiscal quarters of those years. In 2016, the company fell slightly short of their 80,000 target deliveries, hitting just 76,230.
One can argue that the differences are minimal, at best. However, now that Tesla has begun deliveries of their new Model 3 line, some are concerned the company won’t be able to meet the overwhelming demand for the electric vehicle (EV). Founder and CEO Elon Musk assured investors during an earnings call for the company’s second-quarter of 2017 on Wednesday that that will not be the case.
“What people should absolutely have zero concern about, and I mean zero, is that Tesla will achieve a 10,000 unit production week by the end of next year,” said Musk. “I think people should really not have any concerns that we won’t reach that outcome from a production rate.”
The CEO was referring to plans to ramp up Model 3 production by significant increments over the rest of this year, from 100 cars in August to more than 1,500 in September. That number is predicted to grow to 20,000 cars a month by December.
This is a surprisingly strong statement, Electrek reports, given that Musk has always tended to flavor predictions with phrases like “best guess” or “I might be wrong.” He has previously admitted that the next few months would be a “production hell” for Tesla, but he appears confident they will be able to deliver.
Source: https://futurism.com/elon-musk-has-zero-doubt-tesla-can-achieve-10000-units-per-week-by-2018/