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(Bloomberg) — Tesla Motors Inc. rose in extended trading after the electric-car maker reiterated that it expects to deliver at least 50,000 vehicles this year and promised to reveal the more-affordable Model 3 in late March 2016.
The automaker said it sold 33,180 vehicles in the year’s first three quarters. Tesla will need to deliver 16,820 this quarter to reach the low end of its full-year target of 50,000 to 52,000 vehicles. Tesla says it plans to deliver 17,000 to 19,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter. In August, Tesla had revised the goal to 50,000 to 55,000, compared to 55,000 previously.

“Since the Model X launch event, order rates have accelerated for both Model S and Model X,” Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in a third-quarter letter to shareholders posted Tuesday. “Although it is too early to draw firm conclusions, this supports our belief that Model X expands the market for Tesla vehicles, with little to no cannibalization of Model S.”

Tesla is producing two all-electric vehicles, the Model S sedan and the Model X, on a shared assembly line at its Fremont, California, factory. The company turned over the first six Model X SUVs to owners on Sept. 29. Musk, who got the first Model X, has been candid about the challenges of the SUV, with its complex and distinct features such as the “falcon-wing” doors, independently operable second-row seats and large, panoramic windshield.

The Palo Alto, California-based company also reported a loss, excluding some items, of 58 cents a share, wider than the 56-cent average of 16 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The shares climbed 9.3 percent to $227.78 at 4:51 p.m. New York time. Earlier, they closed down 2.5 percent at $208.35 for a drop this year of 6.3 percent.

Model X

Tesla’s shareholder letter highlighted the safety — as well as performance — of the Model X, saying that “internal crash testing shows that Model X should receive the best ever safety ratings for an SUV.” The company also said that Autopilot features released to about 40,000 cars will improve over time, with driving data analyzed and fed back to the fleet “to continually improve our customers driving experience.”

With the second quarter results in August, Musk spoke about challenges related to the supply of the Model X’s second-row seats, which are independently operable.

“To eliminate these supply constraints and achieve a better overall outcome, we have brought manufacturing of these seats in-house,” Tesla said in the shareholder letter, which was signed by Musk and by Deepak Ahuja, the chief financial officer.

Tesla also said it has begun producing its battery-storage systems for use by homes, businesses and utilities at its Gigafactory, the massive battery plant currently under construction outside of Reno, Nevada. Tesla said there’s strong demand for Tesla Energy products in Australia, Germany and South Africa.

“We are growing our worldwide Tesla Energy sales team and are continuing to sign new business partnerships with utilities and energy companies,” said Tesla in the shareholder letter.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dana Hull in San Francisco at dhull12@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net John Lear