Tesla Model 3 weekly production misses August goal of 6,000 per week

Tesla’s Fremont, California, factory.Tesla

• Tesla made 5,300 Model 3 sedans during the final week of the third quarter, less than the weekly goal of 6,000 it had set for the end of August.
• The automaker did manage to meet its guidance for total Model 3 production, making 53,239 after projecting it would make between 50,000 and 55,000, resulting in an average production rate of around 4,095 Model 3s per week. 
• Tesla said in July that it expected to make 6,000 Model 3s in a week by the end of August.
•  The automaker did not say if it had achieved that rate of production at any point during the third quarter.

Tesla made 5,300 Model 3 sedans during the final week of the third quarter, less than the weekly goal of 6,000 it had set for the end of August. The automaker did manage to meet its guidance for total Model 3 production, making 53,239 after projecting it would make between 50,000 and 55,000, resulting in an average production rate of around 4,095 Model 3s per week. 

After hitting a long-delayed goal of making 5,000 Model 3s in one week at the end of June, Tesla said in July that it expected to make 6,000 Model 3s in a week by the end of August. The automaker did not say if it had achieved that rate of production at any point during the third quarter.

Vehicle production has been a major point of focus for Tesla since it introduced the Model 3 sedan in July 2017. Musk acknowledged in April that the automaker had attempted to automate too many production tasks at its factory in Fremont, California, where it makes the Model S, Model X, and Model 3, and would use more human workers in the assembly process.

Tesla initially struggled to hit its production targets for the Model 3. In May 2016, Musk estimated the company would make 100,000 to 200,000 Model 3s during the second half of 2017, though Tesla made just 2,685 Model 3 vehicles in 2017.

At the beginning of this month, Tesla said it produced 80,142 vehicles during the third quarter, which was the highest quarterly production rate in the automaker’s history and 50% higher than its previous high, achieved in the second quarter of this year.

Tesla posted adjusted earnings of $2.90 per share (compared to an analyst forecast of -$0.15 per share) on $6.8 billion in revenue (compared to an analyst forecast of $6.315 billion) during the third quarter.

Have a Tesla news tip? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

Read more about Tesla’s Q3 earnings:

Get the latest Tesla stock price here.