Damper for the US electric car manufacturer Tesla: Last year, fewer vehicles were delivered to customers than planned. In 2024, around 1.79 million cars were delivered to end customers, the company announced on Thursday in Austin, Texas. More than 1.81 million were actually planned – i.e. more than were sold in 2023.
Weak fourth quarter
Tesla boss Elon Musk (53) had set itself the goal of delivering 515,000 cars in the final quarter of October to December alone and thus creating a “slight increase” in 2024 as a whole compared to 2023. In fact, only 495,570 cars were delivered to end customers in the fourth quarter. Of these, 471,930 are of the Model 3 and Model Y and 23,640 units of other models, including the Model S sedan, the Cybertruck and the Model X premium SUV.
Analysts had already expected a decline, but a much smaller one. Investors reacted with disappointment: the company’s shares fell by up to 6 percent after the start of trading on Wall Street on Thursday.
Registrations for Tesla cars also fell on the European market. By 24 percent in October alone. The number can be attributed to a close race with the Volkswagen-lead the group back. Their Skoda Enyaq SUV replaced Tesla’s Model Y as the best-selling electric vehicle in Europe, according to data research firm JATO Dynamics.
Fourth quarter with obstacles
The reason for the weak numbers is probably that intensifying competition
, the elimination of some European subsidies and weak consumer spending in China as well as increased competition. The competitor BYD sold last year 1.76 million pure electric cars and therefore only slightly less than Tesla. With plug-in hybrids in mind, BYD sold almost 4.3 million cars last year. Additionally, lower prices and incentives squeezed Tesla’s profit margin on vehicle sales last year.