A surge of Model 3 vehicles registered in the Netherlands this month could help Tesla Inc meet its vehicle-delivery goal.
Some 11,563 Model 3s were registered in the country in December, according to Kentekenradar, which publishes daily Dutch fleet data updates. Tesla needs to hand over roughly 105,000 vehicles worldwide this quarter to hit the low end of its guidance for 360,000 to 400,000 vehicle deliveries this year.
Dutch car buyers have been rushing purchases of electric vehicles to take advantage of subsidies that expire at the end of 2019. Registering a Tesla Model 3 before year-end safeguarded a 4% tax for the following five years on the portion of the list price below €50,000 ($56,115). The tax rate doubled to 8% and price threshold dipped to €45,000 starting January 1. Tesla owners around the world typically pitch in at the company’s delivery centres at the end of the quarter, bringing doughnuts to employees and volunteering to help guide new owners through the various features of their cars, including in Amsterdam.
Chief executive officer Elon Musk tweeted on Monday that he would head to the company’s factory in Fremont, California, on the last day of the quarter to help with deliveries.
Tesla handed over a record 97,000 vehicles in the third quarter and is expected to report later this week that it set a new high-water mark in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will open an inquiry into a collision on Sunday near Los Angeles involving a 2019 Tesla IncModel S that collided with another vehicle, the agency said late on Tuesday.
Two people died and two others were injured when a Tesla exited a freeway, ran a red light and slammed into a Honda Civic, an NBC News affiliate in Los Angeles reported on Sunday, citing law enforcement. A NHTSA spokesman confirmed the agency was investigating the crash.
The inquiry, a crash scene and vehicle inspection, is the latest by the NHTSA’s Special Crash Investigations unit involving a Tesla vehicle. It has has begun 13 probes into Tesla vehicle crashes believed to involve the use of the company’s automated driver-assist features marketed as Autpilot.
A NHTSA spokesman declined to comment on whether Autopilot was a factor in the Sunday crash in Gardena, California.
The NHTSA earlier in December said investigators would look into a Connecticut crash in which a Tesla rear-ended a parked police cruiser while the vehicle was operating on Autopilot.
Tesla representatives did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
from Gulf Times https://ift.tt/2to5vAW
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