On Friday Tesla Motors Inc. reported it delivered 10,030 vehicles in the first quarter of 2015 - a 55% increase over the last year's first three months.
Tesla sold 9,834 vehicles in the fourth quarter, up from 7,785 in the third quarter.
In 2015 it expects global sales of 55,000.
Today's disclosure came three days after the first
quarter ends and is considered as a measure the Silicon Valley electric-car maker takes to boost transparency.
The auto maker, typically disclosing deliveries long after a quarter has ended, said, “We have decided to take this approach because inaccurate sources of information are sometimes use by others to project the number of vehicle deliveries.”
Many auto makers report sales on a monthly basis, but Tesla does not stick to this practice. Thus, third parties - such as WardsAuto.com, Autodata Corp. or Automotive News - are left to analyse sales results. Those firms often differ wildly in their estimates.
“This is only one measure of our financial performance and should not be relied on as an indicator of our quarterly financial results,” the firm said in an emailed statement.
