Elon Musk said Tesla will make 500,000 cars this year - and then immediately backtracked
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted the company will make 500,000 cars in 2019, and then almost immediately retracted his claim.
- "Meant to say annualized production rate at end of 2019 probably around 500k, ie 10k cars/week," Musk said.
- In October, Tesla agreed to establish more oversight on Musk's communications.
- Also on Wednesday, Tesla confirmed its top lawyer is departing after less than two months with the company.
Elon Musk backtracked, Tuesday evening, on claims he made about Tesla's expected 2019 production and deliveries.
Tesla's CEO originally tweeted that the automaker will "make around 500,000" cars in 2019, before correcting himself about four hours later.
"Meant to say annualized production rate at end of 2019 probably around 500k, ie 10k cars/week," he said. "Deliveries for year still estimated to be about 400k."
Musk's corrected comments echo numbers released by the company in a regulatory filing Tuesday when it said it expects to hit that rate "on a sustained basis by the end of 2019."
It's not the first time Tesla has set a goal of 500,000 vehicles. In 2016, the company said it expected to hit that number by the end of 2018. However, according to its annual report for last year, Tesla produced just over half of that goal, at 254,530 vehicles.
In October, Tesla and Musk agreed to establish a board committee to set controls over the CEO's communications as part of a pair of $20 million settlements with US officials.
Just weeks after that settlement, Musk openly mocked the Securities and Exchange Commission, calling the regulatory agency "the Shortseller Enrichment Commission" on Twitter.
Also on Wednesday, Tesla confirmed its top lawyer, general counsel Dane Butswinkas, is leaving the company after just two months on the job. Here are all the executives to depart Tesla in recent months.
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