Why does Tesla not reveal the number of Model 3 reservations?

After Tesla collected more than 300,000 reservations for the Model 3 last year, its entry-level saloon has become the most important product launch of all time. Since then, in May 2016, the American brand has refused to update the official number of reservations it has received for its models.

During the recent meeting where the American company reviewed its financial results for the first quarter of the year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that Model 3 reservations are growing every week, although the total number of deposits received from its customers has decreased. Musk also assured shareholders that the deposits received would be enough to produce the Model 3 for 18 months.

Tesla does not want to confirm the number of reservations in order to avoid hasty conclusions and to protect its sales. Tesla requires a deposit of one thousand euros with each reservation, and by mid-2016 the amount collected was around 700 million euros; a figure that fell to 613 million by the end of last year.

Musk has explained that the brand does not want to confirm the number of reservations for the upcoming Model 3 to avoid speculation and to prevent people from drawing hasty conclusions that could affect sales of its flagship model.

In addition to these statements, Musk added that the growth in reservations has increased even without its popular anti-sales campaign and without investing in advertising. “You still can’t test drive the Model 3, so if someone visits our dealerships we try to offer them the Model S or X. However, reservations keep increasing week after week,” the American brand’s chief executive said.

Everything points to the first Tesla Model 3s being delivered to their owners in July next year, although Musk himself declared at the company’s annual shareholder meeting that, due to the number of orders, delivery could be delayed until the end of 2018. “We are going to have to transfer some of the production we do in Fremont to the Gigafactory to manufacture the Model 3,” the CEO said.

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