Tesla shares fall on warning of Model 3 bottleneck

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(Reuters) – Shares in Tesla Inc were down 2 percent in trading before the bell on Tuesday after the luxury electric vehicle maker said its planned ramp-up for the new Model 3 mass-market sedan faced production bottlenecks.

Tesla, which began production of the Model 3 in July, has so far delivered just 220 of those sedans and produced 260 during the quarter.

The production of 260 Model 3 sedans in the quarter was far below the 1,500 target and Tesla’s production goal of 5,000 a week by end of this year 2017 is at risk, Cowen and Co analysts wrote in a research note on Monday.

The brokerage affirmed its “underperform” rating on the stock.

Tesla is also set to face increased competition as rival General Motors Co on Monday outlined plans to add 20 new battery electric and fuel cell vehicles to its global lineup by 2023.

Shares of Tesla were trading at $334.97. GM shares were up 1.8 percent at $42.90 in premarket trading.