News Jan 04, 2016 12:32 AM EST

Tesla Meet Its Target, Delivering 17,400 Cars in Q4

By Staff Writer

In 2015, Tesla Motors has delivered 50,580 cars after it reached its quarterly target in the last quarter of 2015. However, the company only delivered 208 cars of its Model X.

Tesla Motors announced on Sunday that it has delivered 17,400 vehicles during the fourth quarter of 2015 to meet its target, and a total of 50,580 for the year. Reuters reported that the California-based company delivered about 75 percent more of its Model S than during the same period of the previous year.

Delivery of the fourth quarter was consistent with projection in November 2015 to ship between 17,000 and 19,000 vehicles during the period. Most of the shipment were of its Model S, while its most anticipated sport utility vehicle, the Model X still have to increase its production to meet the customer demand. The Model X have experienced number of delays, and during the launching in September, CEO Elon Musk said that the company was only able to produce around five cars a week.

Tesla first revealed the prototype of Model X in February 2012 in Los Angeles as a sport utility vehicle (SUV). The car was built based on Model S platform and produced in the same factory where Model S is produced at Tesla Factory in Fremont, California. Model X was initially planned to be delivered in early 2014.

Bloomberg reported that there are numbers of challenges of engineering and manufacturing the SUV. The Model X has complex and distinct features such as "falcon-wing" doors, independently operable second-row seats and a large, panoramic windshield.

Analyst Ben Kallo, from RW. Baird financial services said that achieving delivery target is good news for Tesla. As he told Bloomberg on Sunday, "They hit within their guidance. The X number is lower than some expectations, but production has picked up nicely."

In regard to its low production of Model X, Tesla said in a statement that, "Model X deliveries are in line with the very early stages of our Model X production ramp as we prioritize quality above all else," Based on the daily production rate in the last week of the year, weekly output would be about 238 SUVs.

However, according to The Verge, Tesla Motors only delivered 208 of Model X vehicles in the fourth quarter. During the last quarter of 2015, Tesla had manufactured total of 507 Model X and  will deliver the remainder over the course of the first quarter.

Tesla has now delivered two of its cars: Model S and Model X respectively. The company is expecting to continue the production and delivery to make the company become profitable after years of losses.


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