As we enter the final week of the third quarter, Tesla has launched a Tesla Direct service for door-to-door deliveries, rushing to have in its Q3 update to the market as many Tesla Model 3 vehicles delivered as possible, Electrek reports.
Earlier this month, Elon Musk said that "Due to a large increase in vehicle delivery volume in North America, Tesla customers may experience longer response times. Resolving this is our top priority."
The door-to-door delivery service is one of several Tesla initiatives to try raise the number of Teslas delivered to customers in the third quarter, in which the company has faced a lot of negative press and brand image.
Analysts are closely watching not only Elon Musk's Twitter feed, but also the pace of Model 3 production and deliveries for clues if Tesla is meeting its typically ambitious production and delivery targets.
In Q2, Tesla surprised the market and hit its target of producing 5,000 Model 3 sedans weekly, just as Musk had promised investors at the release of the company's Q1 financial results.
In the Q2 update, Tesla said that Model 3 gross margin turned slightly positive in the second quarter, and expected roughly 15 percent margin in Q3. In the outlook for the quarters ahead, Tesla said on August 1 that it expects to produce 50,000 to 55,000 Model 3s in Q3, which would be an increase of 75 percent-92 percent from the prior quarter.
"Deliveries should outpace production in Q3 as our delivery system stabilizes," Tesla said.
While Model 3 has received all five stars in all segments of NHTSA's 5-Star Safety Ratings, Tesla and Musk have faced a lot of negative press and brand image since early August.
Analysts and investors question Musk's erratic behavior and tweets about going private, "funding secured", which secured Musk and Tesla an investigation by the SEC and the DOJ.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More
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