San Francisco, Oct 3

Electric car manufacturer Tesla has delivered approximately 97,000 cars around the world in the third quarter of 2019, falling short of the 100,000 milestone the company had hoped for.

"We achieved record net orders in Q3 and are entering Q4 with an increase in our order backlog. As was also the case in Q2, nearly all of our Model 3 orders were received from customers who did not previously hold a reservation, solidifying the transition to generating strong organic demand," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

During the last quarter the company managed to deliver 95,200 vehicles to customers across the globe, which broke a record the company set in the fourth quarter of last year.

Earlier, in an e-mail sent to employees Musk said that the company has a chance to deliver at least 100,000 vehicles this quarter.

"We have a shot at achieving our first 100,000 vehicle delivery quarter, which is an incredibly exciting milestone for our company!" Musk said.

In addition, Tesla is buying DeepScale, a California-based small artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, to improve its autopilot driver assistance system.

The acquisition could help Tesla fill the talent gap in the autopilot group.

Tesla announces record deliveries of 97,000 cars in Q3