Tesla Sales Fall Way Short of Estimates
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suffered its first year-over-year sales drop since the early days of the COVID pandemic.
Tesla handed over 386,810 vehicles in the first three months of 2024, . That fell well short of analysts鈥 average estimate for 449,080 deliveries. The stock fell 7% in early New York trading.
Wall Street had rapidly lowered projections for the Austin, Texas-based company鈥檚 deliveries as the first quarter came to a close, including some analysts who correctly predicted that the tally would come in below the 422,875 delivered a year ago. The company faced shutdowns of its plant outside Berlin and switched over its California factory to make an upgraded version of the Model 3, a process that tends to slow output.
The bigger worry was consumer demand. High interest rates have kept some buyers on the sidelines and Tesla has warned investors that it is 鈥渂etween two growth waves.鈥 In February, CEO Elon Musk posted that 鈥渕ost people don鈥檛 love to buy cars in the middle of winter鈥 as he offered a $1,000 incentive. Tesla has also begun experimenting with advertising and has gone to greater lengths to educate consumers about its lineup.
Tesla doesn鈥檛 break out quarterly vehicle sales by region, but the U.S. and China have long been its largest markets. The company makes the Model S, X, 3 and Y in Fremont, Calif., and the Model 3 and Y in Shanghai. It also produces the Model Y at its plants in Austin and outside Berlin. The Model Y sport utility vehicle and Model 3 sedan accounted for 96% of deliveries in the fourth quarter.
Tesla expanded its offerings late last year with the introduction of the stainless steel-clad Cybertruck in the U.S. The company didn鈥檛 break out how many Cybertrucks it produced and delivered.
Despite the challenges, Tesla still managed to reclaim its title as the world鈥檚 largest EV seller after being surpassed by China鈥檚 BYD Co. at the end of last year. In the first quarter, BYD sold 300,114 battery-electric vehicles globally, the automaker said April 1. Including hybrids and other new-energy automobiles, the Chinese company sold 626,263 units during the period.
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