Tesla announced its third-quarter vehicle-delivery numbers on Sunday. The automaker delivered 24,500 vehicles in total: 15,800 Model S sedans and 8,700 Model X SUVs.
"This was an increase of just over 70% from the last quarter's deliveries of 14,402," Tesla said in a statement, adding that its Q3 count should be "viewed as slightly conservative."
Tesla noted that 5,500 vehicles "were in transit" at the end of the quarter and "will not be counted as deliveries until Q4."
The company said that total production for the quarter was 25,185 vehicles. It also reaffirmed its guidance for the second half of 2016 at 50,000 vehicles. Tesla did not provide deliveries guidance for the third quarter when it reported its second-quarter earnings.
The company has come in under quarterly guidance for the first half of the year, with 14,820 deliveries for Q1 and 14,370 for Q2, against predictions of 17,000 and 16,000, respectively.
The 24,500 deliveries in Q3 mean that Tesla is running slightly below pace for the 50,000 second-half number it set for itself.
For the year, Tesla had guided toward a delivery total of 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles. Its production levels support hitting the low end of that figure, as the automaker did for deliveries in 2015. However, the carmaker said that it expects "Q4 deliveries and production to be at or slightly above Q3, despite Q4 being a shorter quarter and the challenge of delivering vehicles in winter weather over holidays."
CEO Elon Musk has set the ambitious target of 500,000 deliveries annually by 2018, with the Model 3 mass-market vehicle anticipated for late 2017.
Shares of Tesla closed at $204 on Friday. The stock has declined 15% since the beginning of the year.
