Tesla defies chip shortages by achieving record sales in Q3 2021

Tesla has announced their Q3 2021 shipment numbers, and despite a car industry crippled by chip shortages the company has achieved a record quarter, not just year on year, but all time.

Tesla managed to sell 241,300 EVs, 102,000 more than the same quarter last year, and also a quarterly record for the company. The number beat analyst expectations of 220,900 vehicles.

This is in the face of chip shortages which saw companies like GM see sales drops of 33%, with that company only selling 446,997 vehicles over the same period.

Tesla, which styles itself as a software company, managed this by sourcing different chips and rewriting their software stack to support this.

Telsa has seen strong sales growth in China, and have also started Model Y shipments in Europe. 228,882 of the vehicles sold were Model 3 and Y vehicles, while 8,941 were Model S and X cars.

“Our delivery count should be viewed as slightly conservative, as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct. Final numbers could vary by up to 0.5% or more,” the company said in a statement.

With new factories about to come online in Berlin and possibly Texas, the company may have a chance at reaching its million shipments for 2021 after all.