Tesla has reported its third-consecutive quarterly profit — even as the Covid-19 pandemic closed its assembly plants in the USA and China.

The electric car maker had a first-quarter net income of US$16 million (NZ$26m) - as aided by US$354 million in credits sold to competitors. The profit is a 64 per cent jump from the same period a year ago and 166 per cent more than last quarter, says Automotive News.

Total revenue in the quarter rose 32 per cent year upon year to US$6 billion, with automotive revenue rising 38 per cent to US$5.1 billion.

"Q1 2020 was the first time in our history that we achieved a positive GAAP net income in the seasonally weak first quarter," Tesla said in a statement.

"Despite global operational challenges, we were able to achieve our best first quarter for both production and deliveries."

The US$16 million in net income compares with a US$702 million loss in the first quarter of 2019, says Automotive News.

Tesla delivered 88,496 vehicles in the quarter, up 40 per cent over the same period a year ago.

Deliveries of the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover totalled 76,266, that is 50 per cent increase than the 50,928 Model 3s delivered a year ago.

Model Y deliveries began in mid-March but were hit with lockdown issues until Tesla introduced contactless sales.

While New Zealand customers didn’t get their Model 3 until late August, 657 were delivered to Kiwis by the end of 2019.

For the first three months of this year, 153 Model 3s have been delivered in New Zealand.