Tesla posts stronger-than-expected quarterly deliveries

Oct 2 (Reuters) - Tesla beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter deliveries on Friday, as sales in Europe recovered from last year's slump and made up for weaker demand in the electric-vehicle maker's two biggest markets, the US and China.

The company delivered 486,532 vehicles in the July-September period, compared with analysts' average estimate of 456,896 vehicles, according to data compiled by Visible Alpha.

The rebound in Europe partially offset the hit to demand from the loss of US tax incentives last year and tougher competition in China.

Demand looked strong going into the quarter as finance chief Vaibhav Taneja said in July Tesla "exited Q2 with our largest order backlog since 2023." 

After last year's slump in Europe - blamed partly on backlash against CEO Elon Musk's politics - EU registrations rose by about two-thirds through August and in France, the Model Y became the best-selling car of any type, the first time a Tesla has topped that ranking.

Exports from Tesla's Shanghai factory nearly doubled in July and August.

Analysts expect the slow rollout of the company's Full Self-Driving software in Europe to help sales further as FSD is now approved in eight countries.

Investors, though, have increasingly looked past quarterly deliveries as Musk shifts Tesla's focus toward AI, self-driving cars, humanoid robots and energy.

Tesla's robotaxi service now runs without a safety supervisor inside the car in Texas and Florida. Last month, the company added its purpose-built Cybercab to its existing robotaxi service in Austin.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram and Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)