Faced with "production bottlenecks," Tesla managed to produce only 260 Model 3 vehicles during the third quarter, but now it's confident of getting back on track toward a production rate of 5,000 per week.
Initially, the electric car maker said it would be capable of building 1,500 units in the said quarter, but considering the resulting numbers, it wasn't able to meet even 20 percent of its goal for the sedan aimed at the mass market.
Tesla Falls Short
According to Tesla's production and delivery report for Q3 2017, the company delivered a total of 26,150, which comprises 14,065 Model S, 11,865 Model X, and 220 Model 3 vehicles.
While Model S and Model X deliveries are breaking records, portraying a 4.5 percent increase from Q3 2016 and a 17.7 percent growth from Q2 2017, the Model 3 is way behind with production figures at 260 and delivery at 220.
Tesla says this low rate is due to "production bottlenecks," attributing the issues to delays in activating a number of its manufacturing subsystems in its California car plant and Nevada Gigafactory, which are normally "able to operate at high rate."
That said, the electric car maker is well aware of the problems that need to be resolved, implying that production should go as planned soon.
"It is important to emphasize that there are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain. We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term," Tesla says.
Original 1,500 Production Goal For Model 3
In Tesla's Q2 2017 report (PDF), the company outlined its production plans for the Model 3 in the third quarter of 2017.
"Based on our preparedness at this time, we are confident we can produce just over 1,500 vehicles in Q3, and achieve a run rate of 5,000 vehicles per week by the end of 2017," Tesla said.
Going beyond that, it intends to up the production rate to 10,000 Model 3 units per week sometime in 2018.
Putting Two And Two Together
Assuming that the aforementioned bottlenecks will be duly addressed, it's not a stretch to believe that Tesla will push the production up to its originally planned rate of 5,000 Model 3 units per week by the end of 2017.
Meanwhile, Tesla says it's still set to deliver 100,000 Model S and Model X units this 2017. About 4,820 Model S and Model X vehicles were also in transit during the third quarter, and they will be counted toward the total deliveries in Q4 2017.
