(Reuters) – Tesla Corporation TSLA.O CEO Elon Musk told employees in an internal email seen by Reuters that he has a chance to produce 500,000 cars this year.
The company’s shares rose 3.6% to $ 428.86.
Tesla said in January that car shipments for 2020 should comfortably exceed 500,000 units, an expectation the company has not changed despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It all goes back to the fourth quarter. Please take any steps you can think of to improve production (while increasing quality),” Musk wrote to employees Wednesday.
These emails are traditional on Tesla, with Musk sending them every three months for a hint of potential new goals and records.
Industry Blog Tesmanian first reported the news earlier today. (bit.ly/3nvhLHE)
Last week, Tesla said it delivered 139,300 cars in the third quarter, an all-time record for the electric car maker, but stocks tumbled as some analysts questioned whether Tesla would achieve its ambitious target at the end of the year.
The company would have to increase deliveries to nearly 182K in the fourth quarter to reach the half-million target.
Tesla’s delivery batch was supported by its new plant in Shanghai, the only plant currently producing vehicles outside of California.
The company began delivering Model 3s from its Shanghai plant in December and has said it aims to produce 150,000 Model 3 sedans at the plant this year.
Reuters was not able to reach Tesla for comment.
(Covered by Yili Sun in Shanghai and Moncef Fengatel in Bengaluru); Editing by Shinjini Ganguly, Shunak Dasgupta and Shilish Cooper
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