Tesla ended 2021 on a high note, with record deliveries in the last quarter. Can the company - already the biggest EV producer globally, pull off another record-smashing performance in 2022? This article looks at Tesla’s performance last year and its outlook for 2022.
2021 - the year Tesla met its target
Elon Musk has been known to set wildly optimistic goals, which his company struggles to keep. There is the insanely popular Cybertruck, for example, that has seen multiple postponements, forcing fans to snap-up all things Cybertruck related as they wait in anticipation for their Cybertrucks.
The Cyber-fication of everything from whistles to backpacks has become a booming business for both Tesla and fans alike. However, 2021 was the year Tesla actually met and surpassed Musk’s target.
Following an impressive performance in 2020 that saw Tesla just shy of delivering half a million cars, Musk announced that the target for 2021 was a 50 percent increase in production. That meant his company was to ship at least 750,000 units.
The year ended with Tesla delivering 936,172 cars, an increase of 87 percent over 2020. The last quarter alone saw Tesla delivering 308,600 vehicles, to make it the most productive quarter in its history.
Wall Street expected 267,000 units for the quarter and 897,000 units for the whole year.
What does 2022 hold for Tesla?
The EV market is set to experience massive growth in the immediate future. For instance, interest in consumer EVs has risen by 300 percent in the US within three years, with about 10 percent of potential vehicle buyers saying they will buy a battery-powered car in 2022. Other factors that could help EVs include the renewal and expansion of the federal EV incentive scheme that could happen this year.
Tesla is poised to benefit massively from this growing interest in electric mobility. It has excellent brand visibility coupled with a lineup of aspirational EVs that are also functional and best in class. Tesla has also increased its production footprint by adding a new plant in Austin Texas.
Outside the US, Tesla is also expected to do extremely well in 2022. EVs in China is expected to reach five million units before the end of the year. With China becoming a vital manufacturing hub with the opening of Giga Shanghai, Tesla is in an excellent position to feed the growing appetite for EVs in China.
The story is the same in Europe, where Tesla tops the chart with its Model 3 and Model Y. Production will start in Giga Berlin in Germany, allowing Tesla to adequately respond to challenges in the continent from new entrants like NIO and Xpeng, and older competitors like Audi Volkswagen Group and Stellantis brands.
We will find out if Tesla meets its 50% expansion goal in the twelve months.
