Tesla poised for record quarterly deliveries in January despite demand concerns

Tesla is expected to announce record quarterly deliveries in early January despite softening demand but that may not be enough to satisfy investors as the electric-vehicle leader grapples with inflation, rising interest rates and crimped production in China, which is reeling under fresh wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

In order to clear off the inventory, the company offered a rare $7,500 discount to US customers who took delivery of a new Model 3 or Model Y at the end of the year, along with 10,000 miles of free Supercharging. The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, will restore up to $7,500 in federal tax credits for certain EVs starting January 1.

Tesla is the world's most dominant seller of electric vehicles and is well positioned to take advantage of some of the IRA’s tax credits for battery cell manufacturing and locally assembled EVs. However, in order to grow its deliveries by 50% annually over several years, Tesla will likely make compromises when it comes to gross margins. Tesla has cut prices across its lineup in China and scheduled down time at its plant in Shanghai.

Investors are signaling skepticism as the US EV maker plunged 65% this year through Thursday’s close, more than triple the 20% decline in the S&P 500 Index.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in April, said that the carmaker would produce more than 1.5 million vehicles in 2022. The company made 929,910 cars through the first three quarters, so it would need to crank out more than 570,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter to meet that goal.

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