Tesla fell short on its Model 3 production goals again - but its latest numbers and past history offer some hope

Here we go again. Tesla's got a new car model, and it's having trouble meeting its production targets. On Wednesday, the electric vehicle maker said just how far it was falling short in meeting its goals for its new Model 3. While company CEO Elon Musk had projected Tesla would make 20,000 Model 3s, it actually only made 2,425 - about 12% of that forecast. And the situation doesn't look like it will get better soon; after initially saying it planned to make 5,000 Model 3s a week by the end of last year, it now doesn't expect to hit that production target until the end of the second quarter.

Investors and prospective Model 3 owners shouldn't be surprised. Tesla previously had trouble meeting its initial production goals of the Model S and Model X. The company launched the Model X, its crossover vehicle which was the last model it launched before the Model 3, two years later than it first planned and needed more than a year to fully ramp up production.

But the company's latest production numbers - and its past history - do offer some hope for Tesla fans. The company has a habit of steadily increasing its output and eventually meeting its targets, as this chart from Statista indicates. Last year, for example, it delivered a record number of vehicles, surpassing 100,000 for the first time. It also met a long-term goal of having its Model X sales double its total vehicle sales.

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