According to new research from Asian publication, Digitimes, it expects electric vehicle (EV) automaker, Tesla, to hit 800,000 in vehicle sales for 2021.
Digitimes Research says it forecasts Tesla selling 800,000 vehicles globally this year, with the lion’s share of sales (90.4%) to be from “more price friendly” Model 3 and Model Y.
“Tesla sold nearly 500,000 EVs for a global market share of 16% in 2020. Nearly 140,000 units of Model 3 were sold in China for a EV market share of 11% and nearly 88,000 units in Europe for a 6% in 2020,” reported Digitimes on Wednesday, local Taiwan time.
According to Digitimes, Tesla has seen “handsome” revenues from software sales of Full Self-Driving (FSD), over-the-air functional upgrades (Performance Boost and more) and also subscription-based services (such as Premium Connectivity).
The Asian publication reiterates to its readership Tesla plans to launch a Robotaxi network, based on its FSD fleet, which would again bring forth a new business model.
Last month, Tesla announced its fourth quarter earnings, where it delivered a record 180,570 vehicles for the three-month period. The company did not provide clear guidance on what it expects for 2021 vehicle sales.
“Over a multi-year horizon, we expect to achieve 50% average annual growth in vehicle deliveries. In some years we may grow faster, which we expect to be the case in 2021,” said Tesla at the time, noting it would provide more specific guidance in its next quarterly earnings. At 50% growth, that would imply sales of 750,000 vehicles in 2021 by Tesla.
A global shortage of semiconductors is affecting the auto industry, and Tesla is not immune. Chief financial officer, Zachary Kirkhorn, said Tesla was “working extremely hard” to manage the global shortage of crucial components, but did not go into detail.
