Tesla sees record profit in 2021 but Cybertruck delayed again


Tesla had a record year in 2021, with record revenues and profits despite supply chain issues hitting the industry as a whole.
The American electric vehicle manufacturer reported annual revenues of $47.2 billion last year, up 73 per cent on its previous record in 2020. Gross profit hit $13.6bn, up 105 per cent.


However, as is so often the case with Tesla, there was some controversy to be found among the positive headline-grabbing figures.
Tesla revealed that it would not be launching any new cars in 2022 because it is focusing on sorting supply chain issues that have been affecting the industry as a whole for the past year.
In a statement, the company said: “Our own factories have been running below capacity for several quarters as supply chain became the main limiting factor, which is likely to continue through 2022.”


Car blog Jalopnik reports that Tesla has sold all 1,000 reservations for the Founder Series Roadster at $250,000 each and has taken over one million $100 deposits on the Cybertruck. It also has at least 40 orders for the Semi truck, which have come from Budweiser.
Tesla navigated its way through the semiconductor chip crisis that continues to slow car deliveries from all major manufacturers by producing its own chips, changing suppliers quickly and rewriting software to use fewer chips.
In the UK, that saw the Tesla Model 3 become the second-best-selling car of 2021 with almost 35,000 registrations, though this was some way short of the Vauxhall Corsa, which topped the charts with more than 40,000 registrations.