American automobile company Tesla delivered to its customers 499,550 vehicles during 2020, higher than the average estimate of 481,261 vehicles surveyed by Refinitiv, but 450 less than CEO Elon Musk had planned.
However, Musk tweeted that he is “proud of the Tesla team for reaching this important milestone.
So proud of the Tesla team for achieving this major milestone! At the start of Tesla, I thought we had (optimistically) a 10% chance of surviving at all. https://t.co/xCqTL5TGlE
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2021
Tesla said in early 2020 that it will “comfortably surpass 500,000 units” of shipments in a year, a target it has left unchanged despite the pandemic. Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn said in October that Tesla is “committed to reaching its original 2020 target.”
Tesla is pinning its hopes on new markets like Europe and Asia as competition intensifies in its US homeland as automakers double their investments in the booming EV space.
January 1, 2021 Tesla started selling Chinese-made Model Y SUVs, assembled at the company's car plant in Shanghai. The company is also expanding its electric vehicle charger manufacturing capacity in China and expanding its sales and service network throughout the country.
Tesla's share price has risen more than 700% over the past year, reported five consecutive quarterly earnings, and was listed in the S&P 500 in December.
