Tesla sales continue to surge in the face of chip shortages

In the third quarter of 2021 Tesla sold 241,300 cars. That's 102,000 more than the same time period last year. Sure, that's only slightly more than half of the 446,997 cars that GM sold in the last three months. But, that number represents a steep 33-percent decline year-over-year for GM. And (if my math is correct) would mean that it sold more cars than Subaru globally over the last three months.

That Tesla has surged while other automakers are struggling isn't a huge surprise once you start digging into the details, though. While other manufacturers have felt the brunt of the global chip shortage Tesla has begun sourcing different silicon, according to The Verge, and rewriting its software to work with those new components.

Additionally the company only recently began selling its popular Model Y in Europe and it's still relatively new to the Chinese market as well, giving it plenty of room for growth.

Of course, things aren't all rosy for Tesla. The company is still facing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board here in the US. And it's only a couple of month removed from a massive recall of nearly 300,000 vehicles in China. Not to mention both its Roadster, Cybertruck and electric semi-truck are facing prolonged delays.