Already riding high after reporting a profitable quarter and beginning deliveries from the Chinese Gigafactory, Tesla has delivered another body blow to the fossil auto industry. In Q4 2019, Tesla delivered 112,000 cars, exceeding expectations and blowing through the previous delivery record of 97,000 cars, which was set in Q3.

We may never know to what extent this feat is attributable to Elon Musk and his mother Maye personally helping out on the factory floor, but images of volunteers from the local Tesla Owners club pitching in to help meet the year-end deadline sent a powerful message to those who still believe that legacy automakers will ever be able to compete with Tesla’s brand loyalty.

“In the fourth quarter, we achieved record production of almost 105,000 vehicles and record deliveries of approximately 112,000 vehicles. In 2019, we delivered approximately 367,500 vehicles, 50% more than the previous year and in line with our full year guidance,” said Tesla in a press release.

The mix of vehicles underlined the ongoing ascendancy of Tesla’s newest model: the company delivered 19,450 units of Models S and X, and 92,550 Model 3s.

TSLA stock powered profoundly into record territory as the company reiterated its big plans for the near future: “We continue to focus on expanding production in both the US as well as our newly launched facility in Shanghai. Despite breaking ground at Gigafactory Shanghai less than 12 months ago, we have already produced just under 1,000 customer salable cars and have begun deliveries. We have also demonstrated production run-rate capability of greater than 3,000 units per week, excluding local battery pack production which began in late December.”

The Transformers of Transportation have several potentially game-changing moves planned for 2020, and now, thanks to the vigorous demand and delivery numbers, the company should have plenty of cash to make it all happen. “When you deliver more cars than you produce, you get into your bank more cash than you spent,” New Street Research analyst Pierre Ferragu told the New York Times, pointing out that Tesla’s healthy balance sheet would enable it to continue its expansion in China.

Source: Electrek, New York Times