Tesla's (TSLA) sales momentum slowed in the third quarter as the automaker paused production at its factories for factory upgrades and in preparation for the launch of its long-awaited Cybertruck pickup truck.
The electric car maker reported on Monday that global customer deliveries fell for the first time in more than a year on a quarter-on-quarter basis, falling 6.7 percent to 435,059 vehicles. The automaker said the drop in deliveries was due to planned plant shutdowns and said it was keeping its delivery target for 2023 unchanged at 1.8 million vehicles.
The slowdown will renew investor concerns that Chief Executive Elon Musk will cut prices further to spur demand as he pursues his quest to make Tesla the world's No. 1 automaker by sales by 2030.
In the quarter to the end of September, Tesla's sales were up 26.5 percent from the 343,830 vehicles it sold a year earlier. That was less than analysts polled by FactSet had expected, who on average expected deliveries to rise 34 percent.
Musk reiterated in July that Tesla aims to sell 1.8 million vehicles this year, up 37 percent from 2022, but cautioned at the time that growth would slow in the third quarter as the company undergoes factory upgrades that will reduce production slightly. Tesla has not yet stated the specific purpose of the upgrade.
Production for the period fell to 430,488 vehicles from nearly 480,000 in the second quarter.
The company needs to deliver about 476,000 vehicles in the last three months of the year to meet Musk's goal. He had previously said Tesla could sell 2 million cars this year, but appeared to back away from that goal as sales growth slowed.