I understand that people are reacting to the "missed expectations", but the reality is that everyone knew that their original production goals were very aggressive.
Here's the bottom line: If Tesla originally planned to produce 250,000 Model 3s in 2018 (5,000 per week * 50 weeks) and only ends up producing 150,000 (1,000 per week for 6 months + 5,000 per week for 6 months) I don't think that's going to be a problem in the long run.
Their only real competitor right now is the Chevy Bolt.
The Bolt has similar range and price to the Model 3 but it has at least 2 disadvantages:
(1) GM is not really aggressively pushing the Bolt, allegedly because it is selling them at a loss
(2) Tesla has the super charger network.
Conclusion: These delays don't like they will have any long term impact.
Their constraint is not competition but cash. They already have a lot of debt. If they cannot ramp up production as forecast, future cash injections could be hard to get.
Here's the bottom line: If Tesla originally planned to produce 250,000 Model 3s in 2018 (5,000 per week * 50 weeks) and only ends up producing 150,000 (1,000 per week for 6 months + 5,000 per week for 6 months) I don't think that's going to be a problem in the long run.
Their only real competitor right now is the Chevy Bolt.
The Bolt has similar range and price to the Model 3 but it has at least 2 disadvantages:
(1) GM is not really aggressively pushing the Bolt, allegedly because it is selling them at a loss
(2) Tesla has the super charger network.
Conclusion: These delays don't like they will have any long term impact.