Tesla's quarterly deliveries beat estimates, company exceeded full-year target

US electric vehicle maker Tesla delivered 484.507 vehicles in the fourth quarter, more than expected. The company therefore exceeded its full-year target of 1.8 million vehicles. The world's most valuable carmaker said this in a statement today. Tesla's Chinese rival BYD, which also makes hybrid vehicles, increased sales to more than three million vehicles. Tesla nevertheless remained the world's largest producer of battery electric vehicles.

Tesla delivered almost 1.81 million vehicles to customers last year, up 38 percent year on year. Of these, 1.74 million were Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

Analysts polled by Reuters had estimated that Tesla would deliver 473.253 vehicles in the fourth quarter. Deliveries ultimately were 11 percent higher than in the third quarter, when production was partially disrupted by upgrades to assembly lines for the updated mass-market Model 3 sedan.

Tesla will publish its full results for the fourth quarter and the whole of last year on Wednesday, 24 January. This year, the company expects to deliver 2.2 million vehicles, approximately 22 percent more than last year.

Rival electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive delivered 10 percent fewer vehicles in the fourth quarter than in the previous quarter, falling short of estimates. Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD increased its total sales by 62 percent last year, to just over three million vehicles. Around 1.6 million were fully battery-powered electric vehicles and 1.4 million were hybrid cars.