Elon Musk Wasn't Kidding About ‘Lumpy’ European Deliveries
(Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc.'s deliveries in key European markets slumped in April after booming the previous month, lending credence to Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's prediction for “lumpy” results.
After Tesla's electric vehicle sales erupted in Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland in March by as much as 450 percent, April was a damp squib, according to data by the countries' motor authorities. In Norway, where electric cars top sales lists consistently, the Model 3 was unseated as the top-selling car by Volkswagen AG's Golf model, of which there is an electric variant.
Tesla's European deliveries before February were much lower -- frequently below 200 units in Germany and Norway -- as the company's higher-priced Model S and Model X cars were the only types available. That changed when the more mass-market Model 3 went on the market and fueled a delivery surge.
The European performance of the Model 3 will be crucial to a company that's relying on the car to generate enough cash to become self-sustaining. Tesla on Friday announced it raised $2.35 billion through debt and stock offerings after overestimating how fast the car could generate that money.
The European launch caused “many challenges encountered for the first time,” Tesla said in a statement in early April. Around 10,600 cars were still in transit at the end of the first quarter.
When asked by analysts at Tesla's last quarterly earnings call whether the firm would disclose deliveries on a monthly basis, Musk called the idea "counterproductive.”
“Sales to a particular country, say, overseas, are affected by when the ship arrives. And so, if the ship arrives on the 31st of the month or the first of the next month, this will make it look like something dramatic has happened,” Musk said on the call.
“But actually, the ship was just a day late.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Sachgau in Munich at osachgau@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tara Patel at tpatel2@bloomberg.net, ;Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, Craig Trudell
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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