Tesla shares slide 8% as shipping woes slam brakes on deliveries

Tesla shares fell 8 per cent after it sold fewer vehicles than expected because of delivery problems.

The world’s most valuable car maker – run by billionaire Elon Musk, who is trying to back out of a deal to buy Twitter – produced a record 365,923 electric cars in the third quarter.

Tesla also delivered 343,830 cars – also a record, but fewer than expected due to logistics issues. 

Tesla said it was unable to find enough companies to ship cars rolling off its production lines at a reasonable cost.

The shortfall in deliveries comes amid demand worries among investors and analysts due to increased prices of Tesla cars, higher borrowing costs and a dull outlook for global economic growth.

‘While Tesla continues to point to supply constraints as limiting deliveries, the potential for demand destruction looms large,’ JP Morgan analyst Ryan Brinkman said.

The company will need to ship more than 450,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter to meet its goal of growing deliveries by 50 per cent annually.