Tesla delivered 499,550 vehicles throughout 2020, falling just short of CEO Elon Musk's goal of shipping 500,000, the company announced on Saturday.
The state of play: Despite the near miss, the Q4 numbers set a new record for the company, with 180,570 cars shipped for the last three months of 2020 compared to the previous record of 139,300 Q3 deliveries.
- The company surpassed Wall Street's expectations, as they anticipated it would deliver 174,000 between October and December, CNBC reports.
- Tesla's annual sales increased by 36% and shares rose by 700%, per AP.
Yes, but: Musk had pushed the company to meet his goal. The CEO sent an email to employees in December telling to increase production as much as possible to meet demand, AP notes.
- This week, he tweeted that all cars delivered through the last three days of the year would have three months of the full self-driving option for free. The option normally costs $10,000, according to AP.
The big picture: Musk has said he wants to increase the company's sales to 20 million per year over the next decade, per CNBC.
- Tesla is building new factories in Texas and Germany in an effort to boost production and sales.
What to watch: Tesla said final results could vary by 0.5% or more.
