By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded 1.6% higher in Monday’s premarket as the company recorded a 73% jump in deliveries in the third quarter.
The company handed over 241,300 vehicles while production jumped 64% to 237,823 units.
Tesla delivered a combined 232,025 Model 3 sedans and Model Y compact sport-utility vehicles in the third quarter. Delivery of higher-end models, Model S sedans and Model X sport-utility vehicles, came in at 9,275 units.
The maker of electric vehicles thus defied the semiconductors shortages plaguing the industry to stay on course to meet its full-year target of 50% more deliveries than last year’s 499,550.
Most of Tesla’s rivals have been hit badly by a shortage of semiconductors as factories in China, Vietnam and southeast Asia – where much of the production of these chips happens -- have been forced to stay shut to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
From tweeting, “Our biggest challenge is supply chain, especially microcontroller chips. Never seen anything like it” in early June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said late September that the chip crunch should be over by next year.
In contrast to Tesla, supply chain issues dragged third-quarter delivery volumes by around a third at General Motors (NYSE:GM).
GM’s dealers delivered 446,997 vehicles in the U.S. in the third quarter, down 218,195 units from a year ago as semiconductor supply chain disruptions and historically low inventories hurt sales.
Covid-related supply chain disruptions in Malaysia were behind the drop, according to the company.