Tesla deliveries nearly doubled in 2021 while other Automakers stagnated.
Ford and General Motors witnessed sales declines, while Elon Musk's electric vehicle company had its best year ever.
Thursday, January 6, 2022 | Chimniii Desk
Key Highlights
- However, there were some bright spots, with Toyota surpassing General Motors to become the top-selling automaker in the United States, thanks to a 10.4 percent year-over-year increase in sales.
- "In July, Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, stated that the business was solving the shortage by switching to more readily accessible processors and developing new instructions, or firmware, to be implanted in the chip," the Times reported. "
- However, the company's progressive strategy has landed it in hot water, as evidenced by the ongoing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration inquiry into the company's Autopilot driver assistance system.
- And, whereas Toyota has stated that their record-breaking year of outperforming General Motors in the United States is not sustainable, Tesla is counting on continued production gains well into the future.
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We recommended against purchasing a car last year. However, even if you had the funds, there is a significant possibility you would be unable to purchase your desired vehicle due to automobile production cuts caused in major part by a shortage of computer chips.
Thus far, the figures demonstrate the agony that these delays have caused the majority of automakers. Ford reported in December that year-to-date sales in the United States through November were down 5.2 percent from the same period in 2020. General Motors claimed a 13% decline in total revenue "as a result of semiconductor supply chain difficulties." However, there were some bright spots, with Toyota surpassing General Motors to become the top-selling automaker in the United States, thanks to a 10.4 percent year-over-year increase in sales. According to Bloomberg, the country's auto industry as a whole is expected to witness a modest 2.5 percent boost in sales in the year following the pandemic's start.
There is one exception, however, a car firm that not only outperformed the 2.5 percent average, but also outperformed Toyota's 10% increase: Tesla. Elon Musk's electric vehicle firm outperformed competition, overcame supply constraints, and exceeded predictions in 2021, producing over 936,000 vehicles globally, an 87 percent increase over the previous year and the company's strongest year ever, according to The New York Times.
"Wall Street analysts had forecasted approximately 266,000 vehicle deliveries in the fourth quarter and approximately 855,000 for the year," the Times reported. As a result, Tesla's shares soared following Sunday's unexpected earnings report.
According to Tesla's own news release, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV led the surge in sales, with a combined total of 911,208 of those two vehicles delivered. Only 24,964 Model S and Model X SUVs were delivered.
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According to the Times, there are two primary reasons Tesla was able to overcome the barriers posed by a pandemic-ravaged planet and ramp up manufacturing. For one thing, expanding sales in Europe and China were critical. However, in terms of the chip shortage, while traditional automakers were forced to leave features off certain vehicles or simply hold onto them until they could acquire chips, Tesla — which is first and foremost a technology company — was able to work around the issue and deliver vehicles to customers.
"In July, Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, stated that the business was solving the shortage by switching to more readily accessible processors and developing new instructions, or firmware, to be implanted in the chip," the Times reported. "Tesla is able to make this change since the majority of the components in its cars are designed to be controlled by software."
These types of on-the-fly improvements to automobile technology are more difficult for legacy automakers to implement, giving Tesla the advantage in this case. However, the company's progressive strategy has landed it in hot water, as evidenced by the ongoing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration inquiry into the company's Autopilot driver assistance system.
And, whereas Toyota has stated that their record-breaking year of outperforming General Motors in the United States is not sustainable, Tesla is counting on continued production gains well into the future. That estimate appears to be accurate, since the automaker's new electric vehicle facilities — in Austin, Texas and Grünheide, Germany, near Berlin — were originally scheduled to open in 2021 but are now on target to begin production in early 2022.
At this point, it may be prudent to focus exclusively on Tesla's successful formula and avoid betting on the Cybertruck, which Musk has confessed may not be a success. However, caution has not always been Musk's strong suit.
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