Tesla Model X Delayed Again? Analyst Thinks So

With well over 20,000 reservations and counting, the Tesla Model X has built a lot of hype despite a non-existent effort on the part of Elon Musk to sell it. Buyers eager to get behind the wheel of the Tesla Model X may be facing another delay though, if an analyst quoted by USA Today is right.

Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas has been one of Tesla’s biggest cheerleaders, calling the company the most important automaker in the world and setting a target price for its stock at a bullish $320 per share. But in a note to investors, Jonas says that deliveries of the Model X might not begin until fall of 2015, making this at least the third delay for the electric SUV.

Musk had initially said that production of the Signature version of the Model X would begin at the end of 2014, but in an updated note to reservation holders said production and deliveries would begin in “early 2015″. A production version of the Model X expected to debut at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where Musk is scheduled to speak, with the first deliveries sometime in the second quarter. Jonas thinks a more likely production date is sometime in the third quarter though, as Tesla irons out quality issues. The Model S set a high bar for what to expect from Musk and company, and the Model X needs to be every bit as good if Tesla wants to meet its lofty production goals and all the hype surrounding the falcon-wing doors.

Is another delay inevitable for the Model X? Even if it is, Jonas doesn’t see that as a bad thing, especially as conventional automakers reel from tens of millions of recalls. Better to wait a few extra months and get it right then join the growing scandal of quality-control issues affecting the rest of the industry.

Tesla has managed to stand apart for a number of reasons, and keeping customers safe and happy is just one of them.