Auto Analyst: Tesla has built a 'phenomenal' brand

Tesla smashed Wall Street's expectations yesterday by delivering 95,200 cars in the second quarter. The company reported, "we made significant progress streamlining our global logistics and delivery operations at higher volumes, enabling cost efficiencies and improvements to our working capital position." 

Above: Tesla's Model 3 (Instagram: rtw_travelers)

In addition, Tesla noted the potential for growth in Q3: "Orders generated during the quarter exceeded our deliveries, thus we are entering Q3 with an increase in our order backlog. We believe we are well positioned to continue growing total production and deliveries in Q3."

"This represents a record for both production and deliveries and a strong sign that the demand for Tesla vehicles, especially Model 3, is as strong as ever," according to auto analysts Gene Munster and Will Thompson at Loup Ventures. “The big picture is that something is happening around electric vehicles,” Munster told Bloomberg. “The Model 3 is on fire.” 

Above: Tesla's Q2 95,200 deliveries in comparison with Wall Street analyst expectations (Twitter: Tesla New York via Bloomberg)

“Tesla has built a phenomenal brand,” said Michelle Krebs, an analyst at car-shopping researcher Autotrader. “When you think of electric vehicles, you think of Tesla. The competition isn’t really out there yet. There is a segment of the population that just wants to buy a Tesla because they like the brand and they won’t look at anything else.”

So how does Tesla's 95,200 Q2 deliveries compare with EV competition from legacy automakers? According to Bloomberg, "Tesla’s Model 3 sales are far outpacing rivals. General Motors Co. sold just 3,965 of its all-electric Chevrolet Bolt in the second quarter, while Volkswagen AG’s Audi delivered just 1,835 battery-powered E-Tron SUVs."

Above: A look at Tesla's growth (Twitter: Hypercharts)

A commenter on Reddit, _Tesla_, puts this all in a bit more context with a direct comparison over-the-lifetime of GM's all-electric Chevy Bolt: "Tesla built and sold more [Model] 3s in Q2 2019 alone than GM built and sold Chevy Bolts. Ever. Globally."

Jim Press, a longtime auto executive who was president of Chrysler and Toyota, acknowledges, "demand was there... If you look at Tesla’s production, half of their sales up to the beginning of this year have been in the state of California.” He adds, “A lot of this growth now for them has been outside of California, and that shows that demand is growing for green vehicles throughout the country, and actually in other markets as well outside the United States.” 

Above: According to former President of Toyota and Chrysler, Jim Press, Tesla's delivery numbers prove demand for 'green' cars (Youtube: CNBC)

While remaining cautious about making predictions for upcoming quarters, Wedbush Analyst Dan Ives told CNBC, “Challenges remain, but this is a step in the right direction.” He adds, “The numbers were above even the bull estimates and shows a clear rebound for the company. This is a feather in the cap for Tesla.”

===

Source: Tesla, Loup Ventures, Bloomberg, CNBC