Tesla Model 3 deliveries fall behind schedule

The Tesla Model 3 is facing a delivery setback due to ‘bottlenecks’ in the production process, according to the brand. 

In the third quarter of 2017, 220 Model 3s were delivered, compared with Tesla’s  prediction of 1,500 stated in its second quarter report. 

Tesla reassured stakeholders: “There are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain. We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near term.” 

The company aims to produce 5,000 Model 3s by the end of the year and 10,000 by the end of 2018.

Despite the hiccup in deliveries of the Model 3, the overall Q3 delivery total of 26,150 cars was Tesla's best result to date. Deliveries were up 4.5% over the third quarter of 2016 and 17.7% over the second quarter of 2017.

The best-selling Tesla remains the Model S, with 14,065 delivered, while 11,865 examples of the Model X were delivered in the period. Despite the current bias towards saloons, the brand’s first small SUV, the Model Y is expected to outsell its other models when it goes on sale in 2019. 

It will have to prove hugely popular to outsell the Model 3, however; Tesla revealed that in the days following the Model 3 handover event, 1,800 reservations were being made per day.