Tesla has shot at producing 500,000 vehicles this year, Musk says in memo

Tesla Inc. has a chance at producing 500,000 cars this year, CEO Elon Musk told employees, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.

Tesla said in January that 2020 deliveries should comfortably exceed 500,000 vehicles, a forecast the company has left unchanged despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This all comes down to Q4. Please take whatever steps you can think of to improve output (while increasing quality)", Musk wrote to employees Wednesday.

Such emails are traditional at Tesla, with Musk sending them out every quarter to hint at targets and potential new records.

Industry blog Tesmanian first reported on the memo earlier in the day. Shares of Tesla closed Wednesday's trading up 2.7 percent to $425.30.

Last week, Tesla said it delivered 139,300 vehicles in the third quarter, an all-time quarterly record for the electric vehicle maker. The company will have to increase deliveries to nearly 182,000 in the fourth quarter to reach its ambitious year-end target.

Tesla's delivery push has been supported by its Shanghai factory, the company's only vehicle production plant outside California.

The company began delivering Model 3s from its Shanghai factory in December and has said it aims to produce 150,000 Model 3 sedans in the factory this year.

Reuters could not immediately reach Tesla for comment.