That Tesla has announced its highest ever number of deliveries, up 73% on last year, is quite an impressive feat given the global shortage of computer chips. That shortage, and other supply chain issues, have weighed on rival automakers such as Ford and General Motors, which saw their respective sales fall 27% and 33% in the most recent quarter.
Competition heats up
Whenever we update this Tesla chart, it usually looks similar, with record delivery numbers in each of the last 5 quarters.
Of course, Tesla's deliveries are still around one-tenth of those of the biggest automakers in the world (such as Volkswagen or Toyota), and so Musk and co. need to keep breaking their own records to justify the company's massive stock market valuation. At the latest count Tesla's market cap. is about $774bn (almost 6x Volkswagen's).
What will be interesting is how the market values electric rival Rivian, which has only begun delivering its truck in September. The company is reportedly hoping to raise $8bn at an $80bn valuation. If it pulls that off, it will be a seriously well-funded competitor, with 100,000 pre-orders from Amazon to boot.
