Elon Musk reportedly deleted a tweet linking to a story which incorrectly said Tesla was the best-selling luxury automaker in the US

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk deleted a tweet that linked to a Forbes story that incorrectly stated that Tesla outsold every other luxury automaker in the US during the fourth quarter of 2018, Bloomberg reports.
• The story was later updated with a correction which clarifies that the Tesla sales numbers it cited included both international and US deliveries, while the BMW and Mercedes-Benz sales numbers it cited only included US deliveries.
• Tesla and Forbes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk deleted a tweet that linked to a Forbes story that incorrectly stated that Tesla outsold every other luxury automaker in the US during the fourth quarter of 2018, Bloomberg reports.

Musk reportedly shared the article via Twitter on Thursday. The article said, "Tesla is officially the #1 premium automotive company in the U.S. outselling BMW and Lexus by a wide margin," but was later updated with a correction which clarifies that the Tesla sales numbers it cited included both international and US deliveries, while the BMW and Mercedes-Benz sales numbers it cited only included US deliveries.

Unlike its luxury competitors, Tesla does not report its US sales separate from its international sales each quarter.

Read more: Tesla's $2,000 price cut doesn't mean it has a demand problem

The Forbes story's headline has been changed from, "Tesla Is Now America's Number One Premium Automotive Company, Outsells BMW, Lexus In Q4," to, "Tesla Is On Track To Become America's #1 Premium Automotive Company, Ahead Of BMW, Mercedes-Benz."

Tesla and Forbes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tesla announced on Wednesday that it produced (86,555) and delivered (90,700) more vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2018 in any quarter in its history. Its previous record for vehicle production and deliveries came in the third quarter of 2018, when it made 80,142 vehicles and delivered 83,500. Tesla also said it nearly delivered more vehicles in 2018 - 245,240 - than in every prior year combined.

But the automaker's fourth-quarter Model 3 deliveries (63,150) were just below the number Wall Street expected (63,698).

• Read more:
• Tesla will start delivering Model 3's in China in March
• New York's governor called Tesla to see if the company could help fix NYC's subway system
• Tesla delivered slightly fewer Model 3s than Wall Street expected last quarter
• Top tech analyst Gene Munster says Tesla's miss on deliveries and price cuts are 'psychological setbacks for investors,' but things aren't as bad for the automaker as they sound

Have a Tesla news tip? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com.

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