Tesla delivers a record 308,600 vehicles in fourth quarter

Tesla reported record quarterly deliveries that far exceeded Wall Street estimates, riding out global chip shortages and as it ramped up China production.

This marks the sixth consecutive quarter that the world’s most valuable automaker posted record deliveries.

Tesla, led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, delivered 308,600 vehicles in the fourth quarter, far higher than analysts’ forecasts of 263,026 vehicles.

Tesla’s October-December deliveries were up about 70% from a year earlier and nearly 30% higher from record deliveries the preceding quarter.

Tesla ramped up production in China for domestic sales and exports to Europe and other countries even though competition rose and regulatory pressure mounted following consumer complaints over product safety.

Tesla said it sold a total of 296,850 Model 3 compact cars and Model Y sport-utility vehicles to customers in the fourth quarter.

It delivered a combined 11,750 Model S and Model X vehicles, an improvement from 9,275 in the third quarter. Analysts were expecting Tesla to deliver 12,879 Model S and Model X cars.