Tesla blames battery supply for flat sales as average prices keep falling

Tesla's Q3 2026 shareholder letter says battery availability limited vehicle volumes and that it ended the quarter with its largest passenger-car backlog in four years. Yet deliveries fell 2% to 486,532 units, average selling prices declined, and Model 3/Y factories ran at roughly 81% of installed capacity.

• Q3 deliveries fell 2% year over year to 486,532 vehicles
• Tesla built 464,391 cars, delivering 22,141 more than it produced
• Global inventory dropped to 11 days of supply from 27 in Q1
• Model 3/Y output ran at about 81% of 2.25 million annual capacity