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Tesla delivered a record number of vehicles in the second quarter, beating expectations and demonstrating the value of price cuts earlier this year.
The electric vehicle pioneer said it delivered 466,000 vehicles between April and June, up 10.4% from the previous quarter and 83.5% from a year earlier. Production was even higher, at almost 480,000.
The results exceed an already ambitious target of increasing volumes by an average of 50% per year, helping to justify a 142% rise in the stock so far this year.
On Friday, Tesla’s market capitalization was $820 billion, below its all-time high above $1 billion, but still higher than any other automaker.
The stock has surged in the past two months as General Motors, Ford, Volvo and Amazon-backed Rivian signed deals to adopt the battery charging standard developed by Tesla, opening up a new revenue stream for the company. company by selling access to its vast network. of chargers.
Tesla cut prices for its vehicles earlier this year to help stimulate demand, with chief executive Elon Musk saying affordability was the problem.
“A lot of people want to buy a Tesla car but can’t afford it, and these price changes really make a difference to the average consumer,” Musk said in January.
The Tesla Model 3 sedan now starts at $32,740 after federal tax credits worth $7,500.
Almost all of the vehicles shipped last quarter were the mainstream Model 3 and the Model Y SUV. Fewer than 20,000 shipments were for the higher-margin Model S and Model X vehicles.
Deliveries of the Cybertruck, Tesla’s highly anticipated pickup truck rival, are due to begin this quarter.
Tesla said earlier this year it was aiming to boost its margins by increasing production, introducing lower-cost models and making its factories more efficient – “necessary” steps to ensure affordability so it can “to become a multi-millionaire vehicle producer”.
Musk predicted in January that Tesla could deliver up to 2 million vehicles this year, up from 1.3 million in 2022.
Full results for the quarter are expected on July 19.