If so, that suggests Tesla failed in a critical task: It didn’t set up an efficient way of delivering hundreds of cars a day as it was scrambling to produce 5,000 a week. “How can you not have this in place beforehand?” Mr. Ramsey said. “It’s not like this is unexpected demand. They should have had logistics in place in advance.”

Is demand softer than it looks?

A more worrisome problem would be if Tesla built these cars and now doesn’t have customers willing to take them. Mr. Musk had long promised that the Model 3 would be available for as little as $35,000. But the least costly version available now starts at $49,000, and the price nears $60,000 if a customer wants the Autopilot driver-assistance software and other options.

The company has said that more than 400,000 customers are waiting to buy Model 3 sedans, and that each paid a $1,000 deposit. Many who put down deposits may be waiting for the more affordable base model.

Holding inventory is itself an issue for Tesla. The company has reported that it is selling almost all of the cars it is making. Each quarter, the number produced was close to the number delivered or in transit.

Brian Johnson, an analyst at Barclays Capital who follows Tesla, said he suspected that the company had a mismatch between inventory and demand — that it had built more rear-wheel drive Model 3s than it could sell. He noted that Tesla was telling customers that it could deliver rear-wheel drive models in four weeks but that all-wheel-drive and pricier versions require waits of four to 12 months.

“That suggests there is unmatched rear-wheel-drive inventory,” he said.

At the same time, Tesla has been offering sales enticements to lure buyers. In July it offered free lifetime use of its network of fast-charging stations to customers who bought the “performance” version of the Model 3, which starts at $64,000. The company extended the program several times before ending it on Sept. 18. Mr. Musk acknowledged in a tweet that the offer was not economically “sustainable.”