On January 2, Tesla reported that it delivered a record high 308,600 vehicles in 4Q21, a figure much higher than Wall Street’s forecast of 263,026.

In 2021, Tesla delivered 936,172 vehicles, up 87% from 499,647 in 2020.

Despite its performance in 3Q20—with 241,300 deliveries—being thought to be the best period already, the electric carmaker managed to reach historic highs for 6 consecutive months thereafter.

According to the data compiled by FactSet, Wall Street analysts projected Tesla to deliver 267,000 vehicles in 4Q21 and total 897,000 deliveries throughout 2021.

Elon Musk wrote on Twitter, “Great work by Tesla team worldwide!” Last October, the Tesla CEO indicated that the company will maintain a 50% growth rate for a long time.

Tesla does not reveal its sales by country; the business also combines the figures of the Models S, X, 3 and Y altogether.  

Gene Munster, managing partner of venture capital firm Loup Ventures, held that Tesla has satisfactorily met the great market demand for its products. Despite some challenges on new plant production and supply chain, Tesla will likely deliver up to 1.3 million vehicles in 2022.

In October 2021, Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn expressed uncertainty in predicting how quickly the production capacity at new plants in Texas and Berlin, where new technologies and teams are adopted, will be boosted.

Moreover, supply chain woes have caused trouble. Musk previously said that 2021 has been “the year of super crazy supply chain shortages”, which he also believes will be overcome in 2022.

In response to increases in supply chain costs, Tesla largely raised prices of its EVs in the US market in 2021. Nevertheless, the company reported strong growth in sales. The great performance was also reflected in the stock market as Tesla soared over 50% throughout 2021.

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