In brief: Tesla said a "massive increase" in deliveries in China and Europe that exceeded 5x that of prior peak levels as well as unique challenges encountered for the first time resulted in many vehicle deliveries being pushed back to the second quarter.
Tesla this week said it delivered approximately 63,000 vehicles to customers in the first quarter, an increase of 110 percent year-over-year but a drop-off of about 31 percent compared to the previous quarter.
The breakdown includes roughly 50,900 Model 3 sedans and 12,100 Model S and Model X vehicles.
At the end of Q1, more than 10,000 vehicles were in transit to customers around the globe. Tesla said production exceeded deliveries by 22 percent.
In an e-mailed statement to CNN in January, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, "As challenges go, this is a good one to have, as we've built the cars and people have bought the cars. So we just need to get the cars to their new owners!"
Tesla in its quarterly report reaffirmed previous guidance of 360,000 to 400,000 vehicle deliveries for 2019.
Tesla's stock value took a hit on the news, dropping from $291.81 at the close of business Wednesday and opening at $261.70 the following morning. Share value has since recovered a bit to $275.01 as of writing but still has some ground to make up.
The electric automaker said it expects Q1 net income to be negatively impacted due to the lower-than-expected deliveries and several pricing adjustments. Full details are expected in its upcoming earnings report.
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