DETROIT (AP) — Tesla’s annual sales fell Thursday for the first time in more than a decade, undercutting its stock price, which has soared since Donald Trump’s victory on optimism. Close relationship with Elon Musk The next president will help the company.
Tesla’s global car sales rose 2.3% in the final quarter of 2024, thanks to 0% financing, free charging and low-cost leases. But that wasn’t enough for billionaire Musk’s most valuable holding to overcome last year’s sluggish start.
The Austin, Texas-based company sold 495,570 vehicles from October to December, increasing deliveries for the year to 1.79 million. As overall demand for electric vehicles slowed in the United States and other countries, sales were 1.1% lower than the 1.81 million units sold in 2023.
This is Tesla’s first year-on-year decline in global sales since 2011, according to statistics from analysis firm GlobalData. The company sold 1,306 vehicles in 2010, which declined slightly to 1,129 the following year.
The economic recovery in the fourth quarter came at a cost. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect Tesla’s average selling price to fall to just over $41,000 in the quarter, the lowest level in at least four years.
This doesn’t bode well for Tesla’s fourth-quarter results, which were released on Jan. 29, with Tesla shares down 6.1% on Thursday.
Musk has donated more than $250 million to the Trump campaign. regular customer At President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Tesla investors are pushed up stocks Since the election, more than 50% have expressed expectations for the new administration. Streamline electric vehicle regulations and address other mask policy priorities.
Tesla predicted its sales would rise 50% in 2022 compared to a normal year, but those predictions have run into an aging model lineup and increased competition in China, Europe and the United States. In the United States, most early adopters of the technology already own electric vehicles, analysts say. And mainstream buyers are concerned about range, price, and whether they can find a charging station on long trips.
Fourth-quarter deliveries were several thousand fewer than Wall Street expected. Analysts polled by data provider FactSet had expected sales of 498,000 units.
A drop in sales at the start of the year prompted automakers to offer unprecedented discounts, reducing industry-leading profit margins.
Competition is also increasing, as established and emerging automakers seek to chip away at the company’s market share.
Wedbush financial analyst Daniel Ives said he thinks the stock deserves more valuation. that promise It has contributed to the development of fully autonomous self-driving cars and its AI technology, and despite the decline in sales, it’s still worth buying.
“We have never seen Tesla simply as a car company. Rather, we have always seen Musk and Tesla as the world’s leading disruptive technology company,” Ives wrote. “And the first part of this grand strategic vision has taken shape.”
Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said fourth-quarter sales were a record high for Tesla, but the company’s aging model lineup is reaching saturation in the entry-level luxury car market. He said that it shows.
Aside from the Cybertruck, which had limited appeal, Tesla’s latest consumer model is the Y, a small SUV that first went on sale in 2020.
To meet Tesla management’s guidance for annual sales growth of 20% to 30% this year, the company is targeting more mainstream buyers who may be considering gasoline, electric, or hybrid vehicles. To gain appeal, they need to launch a vehicle priced in the mid-$30,000 range. Goldstein said.
Tesla has signaled it could launch a new version of the Model Y in the mid-$30,000 range, which could be smaller internally and have fewer features than the current Y, Goldstein said. .
“At that point, you’re comparable to some of the Hondas, Fords and GMs,” Goldstein said. “It takes us out of the luxury car market and into a more affordable car market.”
Jeff Schuster, vice president of Automotive Research Global Data, said Tesla faces strong competition around the world from EV manufacturers such as China and the United States, many of which sell EVs to more mainstream buyers. He said that “If we want to continue the growth we’ve seen, we need to expand into other sizes and price points,” he said.
Mr. Schuster said Mr. Musk’s support for Mr. Trump in the U.S. presidential election may also be alienating some environmentally conscious and Democratic buyers. A broader, less expensive lineup will appeal to a larger group of buyers, he said. “I think the choices he’s made politically are inconsistent with a significant portion of his buyer profile,” Schuster said.
Industry experts say Tesla was once the only automaker to offer reliable electric cars, but now other manufacturers such as China’s BYD are also able to offer more electric vehicles.
The automaker currently sells 75 electric vehicle models in the United States. Through the first nine months of last year, electric vehicle sales in the United States slowed but were still growing.
According to the report, sales of new EVs in the United States through September increased by 7.2% to approximately 936,000 units. Motorintelligence.com. This is a slower growth rate than the 47% increase in 2023. However, this year’s EV sales are still likely to exceed last year’s record of 1.19 million units. Most other automakers are scheduled to report full-year sales figures on Friday.
Nearly all of Tesla’s sales last quarter came from the smaller, cheaper Model 3 and Model Y, while the company sold only 23,640 of its more expensive models (including the X and S and the new Cybertruck).
Tesla’s global electric vehicle sales have narrowly surpassed those of Chinese rival BYD. BYD announced Thursday that its sales jumped 41% last year, including 1.77 million EVs. The company is competing with Tesla to be the world’s top-selling EV maker.
Production in the fourth quarter was 459,445 units, lower than total deliveries for the quarter, and full-year production was 1.77 million units, lower than annual sales.
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Condon reported from New York City.
