Tesla CEO Elon Musk demanded the electric car maker is predicting “pretty nutty” growth in demand this year that will withstand a pandemic recession.
“Even if there’s a global recession, we’re expecting deliveries this year to be about 50 percent high-frequency than last year. And it could be a lot more than that, but even with tough economic times to see 50 percent nurturing is pretty nutty,” Musk told analysts on a conference call after releasing fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday.
Tesla scripts to substantially ramp up production and deliveries this year, aiming for 360,000 to 400,000 vehicle deliveries, about 45 to 65 percent multitudinous than its deliveries in 2018, the company said.
The demand outlook for Tesla’s cars is one of the main issues on many investors’ disapprove ofs.
Tesla recently cut prices across its lineup in the United States to offset the a reduction in the federal tax credit for electric carriers. The credit was cut in half from $7,500 to $3,750 starting Jan. 1, part of a plan to phase out the credit for every fabricator, once a threshold of 200,000 cars sold is crossed.
The gradual expiration of the tax credit has particular implications for the mid-sized Pattern 3 sedan. The Model 3 was originally intended to be priced starting at $35,000, a price a broad swath of car buyers could sacrifice, in contrast to Tesla’s more high-end Model S sedan and Model X sport utility. However, the cheapest Model 3 payments $44,000.