Chicago - Tesla has missed its production target for the Model 3 sedan. The reason? The production line 'slowed down to 1/10th speed', says CEO Elon Musk.
Only 260 of the sedans were produced in the third quarter due to "production bottlenecks," the company said, failing to meet founder and CEO Elon Musk's expectations of 1500 Model 3's delivered by September.
The company said it has received some 450 000 pre-orders for the Model 3. Production has been hobbled by a bottleneck in a handful of "manufacturing subsystems," according to a company statement.
Musk took to Instagram to explain the Model 3 delay:
Tesla to debut heavy-duty truck
Not long after Tesla was founded in 2003, Musk said the plan was to use money from high-end electric vehicles to create more affordable offerings to make the technology the new automotive norm.
Tesla also planned to unveil a heavy transport truck later this month, further broadening its lineup.
"Tesla Semi truck unveil & test ride tentatively scheduled for Oct(ober) 26th," Musk wrote on Twitter last month. "Worth seeing this beast in person. It's unreal."
The company also announced Monday that it increased production of Model S and Model X vehicles to an all-time best quarter of 26 150 vehicles, and anticipated it would deliver 100 000 of the luxury models in 2017 - a third more than in 2016.