Tesla has improved its car production numbers and has signaled that it will soon turn to direct leasing deals to further boost sales, the company noted in its 3Q vehicle production report.
The electric car company produced 50% more vehicles — 80,142 —- than it did in the second quarter, which was its previous all-time quarter high. Production included 53,239 of the popular new Model 3 units and the company delivered about twice as many Model 3s as it did in all previous quarters combined, according to the report.
“Our Q3 Model 3 deliveries were limited to higher-priced variants, cash/loan transactions, and North American customers only,” the report stated. “There remain significant opportunities to grow the addressable market for Model 3 by introducing leasing, standard battery and other lower-priced variants of the car, and by starting international deliveries.”
Tesla offers direct leasing deals for its Model X and Model S variants but has yet to open the option to the lower-priced Model 3s, Auto Finance News has previously reported. Only 6% of car sales in Q2 were leased directly by Tesla, according to the company’s earnings.
Now that Tesla has hit or exceeded production goals for two straight quarters in a row, the company has turnover problems and Securities and Exchange Commission scandals to deal with.
The OEM’s finance department, in particular, has experienced a stark turnover. Last month, Global Finance Vice President Justin McAnear resigned from his role of three years to take a CFO position at a different company. Earlier in the month, Chief Accounting Officer Dave Morton resigned after just a month on the job.
Chief Executive Elon Musk is also stepping down as chairman of the board following a settlement with the SEC claiming the company founder made “false and misleading statements” when he tweeted that he had secured funding to take the OEM private. Musk will remain as CEO of Tesla. He and the company will each pay a $20 million fine.
