san francisco Despite global supply chain problems and pandemic-related production disruptions in China, the US electric car manufacturer Tesla set new records for profit and revenue at the beginning of the year. In the three months to the end of March, sales increased by 81 percent year-on-year to $18.8 billion (17.3 billion euros), as the group of star entrepreneur Elon Musk announced on Wednesday after the US stock market closed. Tesla earned $3.3 billion, up 658 percent from a year ago.
The results were significantly better than expected on Wall Street. The shares initially rose by around four percent in after-hours trading. Although the global auto industry is suffering from persistent shortages of computer chips, for example, Tesla brought 310,048 electric cars to customers in the first quarter, increasing its deliveries by 68 percent year-on-year. In March, the group opened its first car plant in Europe near Berlin. Production there, however, has to be really ramped up first.