US electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) saw its share price stumble in pre-market trading on Wednesday after it missed quarterly output targets again.
Shares fell almost 5% early this morning before recovering slightly to sit at US$214.
Tesla blamed fresh production problems after it delivered only 22,200 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2016, below its own target of 25,000.
That meant full-year deliveries totalled 76,230 compared to the 79,000 it was aiming for – which is itself a reduction from the 80,000 to 90,000 it had originally hoped to produce last year.
The main issue was the introduction of new hardware to improve the self-driving capability of its vehicles, which slowed production between October and early December.
Tesla did add that the problem has been resolved and has not affected production at the start of the New Year.
This is a big year for Tesla too, after it promised to launch its first mass-marketed vehicle, the Model 3.
As well as battling to keep its own promises, other carmakers are also putting the pressure on Tesla.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, US start-up Faraday Future unveiled what it called a “new species” of electric car which it claims accelerates at a faster pace than Tesla’s top model.
The FF 91 can go from 0-60mph in 2.39 seconds to be precise, compared to Tesla’s best of 2.5 seconds.
Car giant Fiat Chrysler also showed off an electric, self-driving minivan at the show, although it was vague about when the concept would find its way into production vehicles.