Does Tesla Have Thousands Of Unsold Model S Inventory?

The Tesla Model S is still one of the most buzzworthy new cars you can buy today, but that may not mean its in as high of demand as we thought it was.

The Daily Kanban talked to a Merrill Lynch analysts who has reason to believe Tesla is sitting on an inventory of 3,000 Model S cars that have no buyers or are in transit. This is despite reports showing the company still has a hit on its hands and is outselling basically all other EVs.

The analyst also indicates his findings in Tesla’s books show Chinese demand is falling short of projections, worsening the company’s financial outlook for that market.

Tesla doesn’t report sales and production figures like most volume automakers. But neither did Maserati until this year, when it quadrupled its sales. Elon Musk gives us the impression the Model S is still in high demand and the upcoming Model X crossover is basically sold out even before its delayed launch a year from now. But an expansion of the range in the form of the P85D all-wheel drive variant may heat up demand further in the U.S. We’ll just have to wait and see.

This would be much more transparent, Elon, if you just told us how many cars went to customers every month.

By Zac Estrada