US Electric car manufacturer Telsa missed its ambitious sales target for the year, the company said.

    Telsa sold 76,230 vehicles in 2016. The firm owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk reaffirmed as late as October its goal to bring 80,000 cars to customers.

    The company delivered 22,200 cars in the last quarter of 2016, down from 24,500 the quarter before. The installation of new auto-pilot hardware put the brakes somewhat on production, Tesla said.     The numbers are a setback for Musk and his ambitious plans. Tesla's share price fell 1.7% after markets closed.

    The tech entrepreneur has set production goals of 500,000 cars a year by 2018, and 1 million vehicles a year by 2020. In 2016 the company manufactured 83,922 cars, a 64 % increase over the previous year.

    Customer interest in Tesla's electric car has not abated. In the last quarter demand was especially high, the firm said. Orders for the luxury sedan Model S and the SUV Model X were up 52 % over the year before, and 24 % over the previous quarter.