Tesla sees record profit in 2021 but Cybertruck delayed again
American firm is performing well but supply chain issues are holding it back.
Tesla had a record year in 2021, with record revenues and profits despite supply chain issues hitting the industry as a whole.
The American electric vehicle manufacturer reported annual revenues of $47.2 billion last year, up 73 per cent on its previous record in 2020. Gross profit hit $13.6bn, up 105 per cent.
Further good news came from the company’s Gigafactory in Texas, where Model Y production has begun using the new structural battery pack and more efficient cells. Deliveries of these models will begin once final certification has been completed, but it did not say when this would be.
However, as is so often the case with Tesla, there was some controversy to be found among the positive headline-grabbing figures.
Tesla revealed that it would not be launching any new cars in 2022 because it is focusing on sorting supply chain issues that have been affecting the industry as a whole for the past year.
In a statement, the company said: “Our own factories have been running below capacity for several quarters as supply chain became the main limiting factor, which is likely to continue through 2022.”
With no new models coming, that means the highly anticipated Cybertruck, Roadster and Semi have been pushed back until 2023 at the earliest. That would make the Roadster about three years late and the Cybertruck about two years late.
Car blog Jalopnik reports that Tesla has sold all 1,000 reservations for the Founder Series Roadster at $250,000 each and has taken over one million $100 deposits on the Cybertruck. It also has at least 40 orders for the Semi truck, which have come from Budweiser.
Tesla navigated its way through the semiconductor chip crisis that continues to slow car deliveries from all major manufacturers by producing its own chips, changing suppliers quickly and rewriting software to use fewer chips.
In the UK, that saw the Tesla Model 3 become the second-best-selling car of 2021 with almost 35,000 registrations, though this was some way short of the Vauxhall Corsa, which topped the charts with more than 40,000 registrations.
