Tesla said that it delivered 254,695 vehicles in the second quarter of 2022, representing an 18% decrease from the previous quarter. The announcement, which was published on Tesla’s website, marks the end of Elon Musk’s company’s nearly two-year run of record quarterly deliveries, which can be ascribed primarily to protracted COVID-related shutdowns of its Shanghai production.
Tesla stated that the Model 3 and Model Y vehicles accounted for 238,533 total deliveries, while the Model S and Model X vehicles accounted for 16,162. In terms of production, Tesla reported that it built a total of 258,580 automobiles.
China has been critical to the company’s growth to become one of the world’s most valuable automakers. However, Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory has been locked in a seemingly never-ending cycle of openings and closures in recent months, owing to the country’s rigorous COVID lockout policy.
Tesla suspended its Shanghai production for two days in March due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, and it closed it again in April as Shanghai remains under a city-wide lockdown. The Shanghai plant is the largest in the firm, producing both Model 3s and Model Ys.
Tesla just launched its first European factory in Berlin, Germany, and celebrated the grand inauguration of its Austin, Texas Gigafactory with a “cyber rodeo” — both of which could help offset production challenges created by the COVID-related lockdowns in Shanghai. As supply chain bottlenecks continue to constrain the company’s objectives, Musk recently described both facilities as “giant money furnaces” that are “losing billions of dollars.”
