Tesla racked up record sales of more than £1bn in the UK last year – nearly double what it achieved in 2019.
It also saw its profit rocket from £5.2m in 2019 to £14.6m – a rise of 181 per cent – according to the accounts for the year ended December 31, 2020 for its distributor in the UK, Tesla Motors Ltd.
The accounts, which have just been filed at Companies House, show that revenue in 2020 was £1.144bn versus £590m in 2019. Meanwhile, it paid £2,700,598 in income tax.
It delivered 24,722 vehicles in 2020 versus 13,068 in 2019. Last year’s gross profit margin, meanwhile, was 7.4 per cent against 12.6 per cent in 2019.
The accompanying report, signed on behalf of the board by director Stephan Werkman, said it furloughed ‘a number of its employees’, with the use of the government grants ending in full in August.
In all, it received £604,859 under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The average number of staff over the year, meanwhile, rose from 556 to 585, including executive directors.
The numbers fell from 245 to 193 within the sales division but rose within services from 262 to 325 and within administration from 49 to 67.
Referring to its staff, it said employees were ‘promoted as quickly as their talents and work allow, regardless of race, gender, beliefs, educational background or anything else’.
It added: ‘We insist upon diversity and inclusion not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because our differences enable us to build innovative products that are changing the world.’