TSLA Tesla Inc

Tesla Motors Inc. said its first-quarter global sales rose 50% to 14,820, lower than anticipated, as the company says it dealt with supplier shortages caused by its own "hubris."

The company had forecast 16,000 deliveries in the first quarter, a bit lower than the 17,400 it delivered to customers in the final three months of 2015. The company reports sales quarterly and doesn't break out the sales by region.

Tesla delivered 12,420 Model S sedans and 2,400 Model X sport-utility vehicles in the first three months of the year. Tesla said it had trouble with several parts in the Model X as a result of its own "hubris in adding far too much new technology to the Model X in version 1." The company said it also lacked sufficient in-house capability to produce some of the parts.

Still, Tesla said it was producing 750 Model X vehicles a day by the end of March, which is roughly full capacity, and that it would maintain its forecast of 80,000 to 90,000 deliveries in 2016.

Tesla's sales have continued to grow as it expands to new markets and increases its production capability. It sold just over 50,000 vehicles in 2015. Tesla said its orders in the first quarter exceeded its deliveries by a "wide margin' in the first quarter.

The report comes days after Tesla started taking reservations for its Model 3, a compact sedan that seats five and has a range of 215 miles or more on a charge. Through Saturday, Tesla had logged 276,000 reservations, each held by a $1,000 refundable deposit.

The interest in the Model 3 demonstrates a strong demand for the Tesla product that today is inhibited by the high price of its current offerings, which start at $76,000 and often sell for more than $100,000 with options.

The demand for the Model 3 sent Tesla's shares skyrocketing to a seven-month high on Monday. Shares closed at $246.99, up 4%. As recently as Feb. 9, the stock closed at $142.32. Following the sales report, its shares fell 2.1% in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 04, 2016 17:15 ET (21:15 GMT)

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