It must be recognized that Tesla has been one of the brands that has best saved the critical situation in the markets. Quarter after quarter, those in Austin have improved their production and delivery figures, but the idyllic situation could be coming to an end. Own Elon Musk acknowledges that the demand is so high that the orders accumulate too much delay. So much so that they are considering the possibility of not accepting more reservations until the situation improves.
The markets are hungry for functional and viable electric cars. Tesla dominates the market with a production close to one million units, a figure that will far exceed this 2022. Teslas are the most loved and sought after electric cars, but so much demand has a price. Production cannot go any faster and that is causing some units have exaggerated lead times of several months. Many deliveries will not be made until 2023.
Elon Musk wants to take matters into his own hands until the bottleneck is released. The Shanghai plant, the most productive in the house, has been paralyzed for several weeks as a consequence of the severe restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The plant has been back in operation for several days now, but during those stoppages thousands of cars were left in a limbo from which Tesla now has to get out urgently.
During an interview with Elon Musk at the ‘FT Future of Cars’ Conference in the United States, the Tesla owner commented: “Right now demand is exceeding production to an absurd degree. In fact, we will probably limit or simply stop taking requests for any request that exceeds a certain period of timebecause right now some deliveries are more than a year away.”
In recent weeks we have witnessed how delivery times to customers have been dilating. In Spain, a very timid market, the Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X still do not have a specific arrival date, while the best seller the Model 3 sets delivery times between January and March 2023. The model that suffers the least from this setback is the Model Y, but despite this we see that customers will not be able to enjoy their units until the end of the summer.
Whatever action Tesla takes will be neither popular nor welcome. The high demand will cause many buyers to turn their eyes to alternative products. Tesla no longer has the hegemony in each segment, and models such as the Tesla Model 3 are beginning to face tough rivals such as the BMW i4 or the Polestar 2. We will soon know what action Elon Musk will take in this regard, but everything indicates that the orders or the tap will be cut off directly, which may end up affecting the annual balance of production and deliveries.
Font: InsideEVs
