Tesla announced a record quarterly profit on Monday as sales of its electric vehicles boomed in the first three months of the year.
The World’s Most Valuable Automobile Company posted $ 438 million in profits on $ 10.39 billion in sales despite facing supply problems after a fatal accident in Texas.
Thanks to the sale of its compact sport utility vehicle Model Y and the demand in China, Tesla was able to deliver around 184,800 vehicles in the first three months of the year, more than twice as many as in the same period last year.
The strong financial start to the year comes as federal officials investigate the fatal accident of one of its cars earlier this month near Houston, Texas. Investigators said they were “100% sure” that no one was driving the Autopiloted Model S sedan when it pulled off a street.
The investigation is one of more than two dozen accidents involving Tesla vehicles.
The company is also affected by a global semiconductor chip shortage, originally sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, which hit manufacturers like Tesla’s rivals around the world.
The company has been instrumental in driving global demand for electric cars and has driven significant investments from competitors such as General Motors and Volkswagen.
This year Tesla is expected to open a new “Giga factory” near Austin, Texas, and another outside of Berlin, the first in Europe.
Tesla didn’t make any Model S sedans or Model X SUVs in the first quarter as it prepares to bring redesigned versions of each vehicle to market. These vehicles should be delivered in March. Tesla said Monday that “first shipments of the new Model S should begin very soon,” but did not specify when.
The company’s share price, which increased eightfold over the past year, fell over 2% after the earnings news was released.
