Swamped with orders, Tesla aims to expand factories in 2021

Buoyed by a record sale of cars in the last three months of 2020, electric car-maker Tesla is all set to expand its market in China and open new factories in Texas and Germany this year.

The company which had set the goal to exceed sales of half-a-million cars in 2020, on Saturday said it just fell short of the target by 450 vehicles.

“In 2020, we produced and delivered half a million cars. Huge thanks to all those who made this possible,” the company tweeted on January 2.

“So proud of the Tesla team for achieving this major milestone! At the start of Tesla, I thought we had (optimistically) a 10% chance of surviving at all,” said CEO Elon Musk responding to the tweet.

Tesla broke all past records in the final quarter of 2020 by delivering 1,80,570 vehicles, higher than the 139,300 sold in the third quarter of 2020.

According to reports, the company’s shares rocketed by 743 per cent in 2020, earning it a stock market capitalisation of $668.9 billion.

According to a report in the Mint, Tesla has increased its production by 36 per cent to cater to the increasing demand for battery-powered cars across the globe.

Gene Munster, the managing partner at Loup Ventures, a capital ventures firm, in a note to clients said while Tesla has the formula that consumers want, the company needs to build new factories in Austin, Texas, and Brandenburg, Germany to meet the increasing demand for its vehicles.

“While they made it look easy in Shanghai, ramping production is difficult and will be one of the most important Tesla topics in 2021,” he said.