DETROIT
Tesla reported third quarter deliveries of 486,532 vehicles on Oct. 2, surpassing the 461,974 consensus estimate by 25,000 units. The company produced 464,391 vehicles and 13.7 GWh of energy storage during the quarter. Tesla stock closed near $383, up about 2 percent on the day.
Deliveries declined 2.1 percent from the record 497,099 units delivered in the third quarter of 2025, driven then by U.S. buyers claiming a $7,500 federal tax credit before its Sept. 30, 2025 expiration.
Tesla's Shanghai plant recorded its best month of 2026 in September with wholesale sales rising 5 percent year over year to 95,366 vehicles. Exports from the factory increased 58 percent to 30,529 units. Retail sales within China, however, fell 9 percent to 64,837 vehicles for September. Through the first nine months of the year, exports accounted for approximately 49 percent of Shanghai's total volume, up from about 29 percent a year earlier—a shift that signals weakening domestic Chinese demand offsetting international strength.
On the software front, Tesla renamed its Full Self-Driving system to "Tesla Assisted Driving" on European sites after Germany's transport ministry labeled the original name as misleading. Berlin now supports EU-wide approval for the technology, proposing a cap of 10 percent above the speed limit.
In Texas, the state DMV registry shows 319 purpose-built Cybercab registrations, with 150 additions overnight on Oct. 8. Model Y robotaxi registrations remained at 420. The combined fleet registered in Texas stands at 739 vehicles, though the registry does not indicate how many carry paying riders.
Cybertruck deliveries are estimated by Electrek at 7,000 to 8,000 units for the quarter, a fraction of the line's planned production pace.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated that Tesla and SpaceX will maintain ownership of the planned Terafab chip complex, even if TSMC participates. "No, we will build and run the fab. Let there be ZERO doubt about that. Maybe TSMC subleases part of the Terafab if they want, but nothing more than that," Musk said, confirming discussions between the two companies. Musk previously described Terafab as a large fabrication facility designed to supply advanced chips for his companies' autonomy, robotics, and computing requirements, arguing that existing foundries cannot add capacity quickly enough to meet demand.
Rivian posted a record third quarter, delivering 19,248 vehicles, up about 46 percent year over year. The company produced 19,751 vehicles during the period.
Lucid reported third quarter deliveries of 3,806 vehicles, falling short of analyst expectations of approximately 4,700 units. The company cut production by 38 percent sequentially to 2,954 vehicles after removing a second shift in Arizona. Lucid's deliveries still exceeded its production for the quarter.
