Tesla earns $1.62 bn in Q3 as car sales surge

San Francisco, Oct 21 (IANS) Despite the ongoing chip shortage, electric vehicle company Tesla reported a net income of $1.62 billion in the third quarter of 2021, which is five times more than it did this time last year.

The company's operating income grew some 54 per cent over the past quarter to $2 billion.

"Operating income increased substantially year-on-year (YoY) mainly due to vehicle volume growth and cost reduction," the company said in a statement.

"Positive impacts were partially offset by ASP decline, growth in operating expenses, lower regulatory credit revenue, additional supply chain costs, Bitcoin-related impairment of $51 million and other items," it added.

In the third quarter, the company said it produced approximately 238,000 vehicles and delivered over 240,000 vehicles.

According to Engadget, the company executives pointed to record-setting sales of both the Model 3 and Model Y for the explosive earnings growth, though only 9,289 Models X and S were shipped during the same period, a nearly 40 per cent drop from the second quarter of 2021 rates.

Overall, deliveries increased in the third quarter by 20 per cent compared to the previous quarter and increased by roughly 70 per cent over the third quarter in 2020.

Tesla executives credit increased production of the Model Y at the Shanghai Gigafactory for the boost in deliveries, the report said.

On the technology front, Tesla continues its FSD City Streets beta rollout and plans to "continue to monitor fleet data closely to help facilitate a smooth rollout".