Tesla delivers 499,550 cars in 2020, sets sales record

Tesla came tantalising close to hitting its 500,000-vehicle sales target for 2020, in the process setting a record for the EV sales leader.

The Californian-based brand confirmed it delivered 499,550 vehicles in 2020, just 450 shy of its half-million-vehicle target. The sales result was 36 percent stronger than 2019.

However, the company produced 509,737 cars in calendar year 2020, the remaining cars still awaiting delivery to customers.

It’s a remarkable achievement given the turmoil of 2020.

As with other car makers Tesla was hit with production delays as a result of Covid-19 shutdowns and associated challenges with shifting cars around the world.

There was also the enormous uncertainty of what the global pandemic could do to new-car demand, something the world is still dealing with.

During a year when Tesla’s share price soared to new highs – making it the most valuable car company in the world – it is something of a win to come out with such solid sales.

“So proud of the Tesla team for achieving this major milestone!” Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted following the investor announcement.

“At the start of Tesla I thought we had (optimistically) a 10% chance of surviving at all.”

Unsurprisingly the heavy lifting of Tesla’s 2020 sales was done by the most affordable model, the Tesla Model 3 and its SUV offshoot, the Model Y that went on sale in some markets in 2020.

According to Tesla’s numbers – which the company warns can vary by 0.5 percent once the final figures are collated – there were 442,511 Model 3s and Model Ys delivered to customers around the world in 2020.

Model S/X sales continue to drop

As the volume-sellers in the Tesla stables took off – the Model Y is due in Australia in 2021 – the larger, more expensive Model X and Model S continued a sales decline, dropping 14 percent on their 2019 sales.

Between them the Model S and Model X accounted for 57,039 global deliveries in 2020, the lowest for those models since 2015, when 50,580 were delivered (the sales peak for the Model S/X was in 2017 when 101,312 were delivered).

There is some relief coming soon for the Model S in the form of the Model S Plaid.

Claimed to have more than 1100 horsepower – or 820kW, which is almost double the power of Porsche’s fastest-accelerating car, the 478kW 911 Turbo S – the Model S Plaid gets an extra electric motor, for three in total.

It is claimed to accelerate to 100km/h in “less than 2.1 seconds”, according to Tesla. If that holds true, it would make the Model S Plaid the fastest-accelerating car on sale in Australia.

However, rival EV start-up Lucid – which is yet to produce a car – claims its upcoming Model S-rivalling Lucid Air coudl be faster.

Priced from about $239,000 in Australia, the Model S Plaid is due to arrive late in 2021.

While it is unlikely to be a big volume player due to the price, it will shine some light on Tesla’s oldest model – the Model S has been on sale globally since 2012 and in Australia since 2014 – and give Tesla added firepower against the upcoming Porsche Taycan.

Beyond 2021 Tesla has plenty to look forward to with the planned introduction of the Cybertruck ute and what is shaping up to be the brand’s most affordable model, the Tesla Model 2.