Tesla deliveries fall as electric car maker upgrades its factories

Tesla delivered fewer cars than expected in the third quarter of the year.

The electric-vehicle maker handed over 435,059 cars in the three months to the end of September – down nearly 7 per cent from the preceding quarter.

It was the first decline in deliveries in more than a year and came as Tesla closed factories to upgrade them to make new models.

However, the company said its target to deliver 1.8m vehicles this year remains the same. Wall Street analysts on average expected Tesla to deliver 454,100 vehicles. 

Slowdown: Tesla (led by Elon Musk, pictured) handed over 435,059 cars in the three months to the end of September – down nearly 7% rom the preceding quarter

Some analysts believe factory upgrades could spark a rebound in deliveries in the fourth quarter.

Tesla has cut the price of many of its cars – particularly in the US and China – in a bid to boost sales.

A Tesla spokesman yesterday said: ‘A sequential decline in volumes was caused by planned downtimes for factory upgrades.

‘Our 2023 volume target of around 1.8m vehicles remains unchanged.’