Tesla delivered a record amount of cars in the third quarter
Prolific entrepreneur Elon Musk's Tesla Motors said today that the number of vehicles it delivered hit a record 24,500 in the third quarter.
They had risen 70 per cent quarter-on-quarter in what the firm said was a "slightly conservative [figure], as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct."
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Of these, 15,800 were Model S sedans and 8,700 were Model X sport-utility cars. An additional 5,500 cars were on their way to customers and will be counted as deliveries in the fourth quarter.
It came as production at Tesla rose 37 per cent to 25,185 vehicles quarter-on-quarter.
Today's figures suggest that Tesla Motor sales have not been affected by the death of a man who was driving a Tesla Model S car on autopilot mode earlier this year.
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The company expects fourth quarter deliveries and production to be at or slightly above its most recent performance, despite it being a shorter quarter and the challenge of delivering vehicles in the winter weather over the holidays.
Tesla also kept its guidance of 50,000 vehicles for the second half of 2016.