TSLA Tesla Inc

Tesla Motors Inc. delivered 17,400 vehicles in the last three months of 2015, the most in a quarter by a wide margin and 75% more than a year earlier as the company rushed to hand over Model X sport-utility vehicles to customers who have been waiting for three years since making a deposit.

Separately, Tesla is investigating a fire that destroyed a Model S in Norway. According to Norwegian television station Web page, VG.no, a Model S owner plugged in his vehicle at a Supercharger on New Year's Day and walked away and the vehicle caught fire. No one was injured. The Tesla fast-charging system delivers up to 130 kilowatts of direct current, allowing for a speedy charge of the car's large battery.

Tesla achieved its forecast of more than 50,000 vehicles for the year with the burst of deliveries of Model S electric cars and a smattering of 208 Model X SUVs. The company said it produced 507 Model X vehicles in the final quarter of the year and is now producing about 238 Model X vehicles per week. Tesla delivered nearly 50% more vehicles in the quarter than in its next highest quarter.

The fire, which occurred in Tesla's biggest European market, is a bit of unwelcome news that is likely to stoke some concern about Tesla's Supercharger system, which delivers more than twice the power of similar fast-charging systems used by competing car makers.

"We are undergoing a full investigation and will share our findings as soon as possible," a Tesla spokeswoman said. Tesla officials hadn't revealed the cause of the fire by late Saturday night. Two years ago Tesla installed new shielding under its Model S vehicles after several cars caught fire when they ran over roadway debris and punctured the lithium-ion batteries that sit in a large rectangle under the vehicle. Since then, there haven't been any reported fires.

News of the fire comes just as Tesla is reporting its year-end deliveries, which are monitored closely as the company tries to ratchet up its manufacturing capabilities to match demand.

Tesla's sales got a boost from a burst of deliveries to Europe, where an expiring tax credit in Denmark contributed to the burst in volume. Tesla was able to meet its delivery expectations of 50,000 to 52,000 vehicles. Tesla reports sales globally on a quarterly basis and doesn't break out regions, but a Tesla executive in November acknowledged the Denmark deliveries.

Tesla's Model S and the new Model X SUV, are appealing to a luxury buyer interested in high tech, not simply people trying to avoid buying gasoline. That has helped to drive demand even as the price of gasoline is less than $2 a gallon and makes the value proposition of an electric car worse.

Tesla's launch of the Model X was slow during the final three months of the year. The company first delivered the long-awaited SUV to executives and important investors, known as "Founders," then to "Signature" reservation holders. The latter group had begun placing reservations for the car in the winter of 2012, before the Model S was even delivered.

The Signature reservation holders didn't begin receiving vehicles until late December.

The Model X has numerous manufacturing challenges, including its unique falcon-wing doors that open from the roof and contain ultrasonic sensors that detect nearby cars and the ceiling. It also has single-post seats in the second row that are difficult to build and forced Tesla to bring seat assembly in-house, an unheard-of move by a mass manufacturer.

CEO Elon Musk said the company should be at full production of the Model X by the end of March, producing between 1,600 and 1,800 Model S and Model X vehicles per week at the Fremont, Calif., assembly plant.

Write to Mike Ramsey at michael.ramsey@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 04, 2016 01:15 ET (06:15 GMT)

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