Tesla recently reported its third quarter financial results and the company disclosed delivery guidance for 2016. Tesla expects to produce and deliver between 1,600 and 1,800 vehicles per week on average next year – meaning a yearly total of 83,200 to 93,600 units. If the company can achieve the higher end of its guidance, it would deliver more cars in a year than it did since the company was founded in 2003.

The automaker delivered 11,603 cars from July through September, which made the last quarter its best to date, but the company is aiming to significantly increase production this quarter in order to deliver between 17,000 to 19,000 units during the last three months of year. From 2008 to 2012, Tesla delivered about 2,400 units of its first vehicle, the Roadster. Following the end of production of the Roadster, the company started producing the Model S during the second half of 2012 and they delivered about 90,000 vehicles as of September 30th (last reported numbers). Tesla also delivered a few Model X’s since its official unveiling in September, but the total is expected to be less than a few dozens.

The combined total is right below the higher end of Tesla’s guidance for 2016 deliveries of 93,600 units based on 1,800 per week on average, which will consist of both Model S and Model X deliveries.

It is anyone’s guess if Tesla can actually meet its target for 2016, but on a quarter to quarter basis, the company has been successful at meeting delivery goals. To be fair, they normally confirm the guidance a month into the quarter and with Tesla’s products being made-to-order, they normally already have a backlog of orders for the last 2 months.

But nonetheless, the guidance of 17,000 to 19,000 deliveries for the fourth quarter is an interesting challenge that could set the tone for next year’s ambitious target.

The first delivery numbers are already coming in for the fourth quarter with registration data in Europe for October. We already reported on a few markets:

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