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Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of X, speaks during a Tesla product launch event in Los Angeles on October 10, 2024.
Tesla | Via Reuters
tesla recorded its production and vehicle deliveries in the fourth quarter report on Thursday. Here are the key numbers:
Total deliveries Q4 2024: 495,570
Total production Q4 2024: 459,445
Total annual deliveries 2024: 1,789,226
Total annual production 2024: 1,773,443
The quarter’s results represented the first year-over-year drop in annual delivery numbers for Tesla, which reported 1.81 million deliveries in 2023. It reported 484,507 deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Tesla shares fell more than 4% in premarket trading on Thursday.
Analysts expected Tesla to report quarterly deliveries of 504,770, including 474,000 Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles, according to a consensus estimate compiled by StreetAccount. Tesla sent some investors a company-compiled delivery consensus of 506,763 vehicles, based on a survey of 26 analysts. A widely followed independent Tesla researcher, who publishes as Troy Teslike, predicted deliveries of 501,000.
Deliveries are the closest approximation of Tesla’s reported sales, but they are not precisely defined in communications with the company’s shareholders.
The fourth-quarter report comes after a big late-year rally in Tesla shares, which ended 2024 up 63%. In mid-December, stocks reached a recordeclipsing its previous all-time high from 2021.
It was a big turnaround from the first quarter, when stocks plummeted 29%its worst period since 2022 as the company faced falling sales despite price cuts and incentives for buyers. On the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call in April, CEO Elon Musk He told investors that while he expected “higher sales this year than last year,” the growth rate would slow from 38% in 2023.
The biggest story at Tesla in the second half of the year was Musk’s role as president-elect. donald trump electoral campaign. Musk, the world’s richest person, spent about $277 million promoting Trump and other Republican candidates, and spent weeks traveling campaigning in swing states.
Elon Musk speaks with US President-elect Donald Trump during the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, United States, on November 19, 2024.
Brandon Bell | Via Reuters
Musk, who also runs SpaceX and xAI and owns the social network
Sam Fiorani, vice president of industry research group Auto Forecast Solutions, told CNBC in an email that Musk’s foray into politics may have “diverted his attention from his core businesses.” However, the level of concern among EV investors or buyers will not be reflected in Tesla’s numbers until the first quarter, he said.
Until recently, Tesla had been one of the only automakers mass producing battery electric vehicles. The company now faces an onslaught of competition from domestic automakers, including general motors, Ford and rivian as well as BYD in China, Hyundai in Korea and European automotive giants. bmw and volkswagen.
Patrick George, editor-in-chief of InsideEVs, told CNBC that he believes Tesla still does many things better than any other electric vehicle manufacturer, especially when it comes to its charging network. But Tesla’s biggest operational challenge last quarter was “the practical work of being a car company.”
‘Lots of used cars accumulate’
Tesla has invested in a humanoid robotics initiative and chip development, and plans to produce a unique robotaxi and start a driverless transportation service before 2027. While Musk and shareholders may not want to see Tesla as just A car company, the majority of profits are still derived from vehicle sales.
George said Tesla made a mistake by not bringing “more affordable electric vehicles in 2024” and added that Cybertrucks, the company’s newest vehicle, are “piling up on used car lots.” The angular steel Cybertruck has a starting price of around $80,000.
With competitors gaining market share in Europe, Tesla saw a sharp drop in sales in the region during the fourth quarter.
From January to the end of November, Tesla sold 283,000 vehicles in Europe, about 14% less than in the same period a year earlier, according to registration data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). Registrations in Europe fell to 18,786 in November from around 31,810 a year earlier.
The company’s business in China also came under pressure in the fourth quarter.
Fiorani said that while the Model Y is the second best-selling model in China, “its growth is not keeping pace with market growth.” Through November, Model Y sales were up more than 5%, but overall EV sales in the country were up 8%, he said.
Meanwhile, BYD and other brands in China, including Chery, Li Auto, Jetour, LeapMotor and Aito, grew substantially faster than Tesla. BYD is also setting up plants outside China and exporting prodigiously.
In North America, Tesla remains dominant. The company offered a series of incentives and price cutseven in its most popular Model Y SUV, during the fourth quarter to boost sales. Still, Tesla experienced a buildup of inventory.
During the fourth quarter, the company sent Cybertruck assembly line workers home for a few days, indicating that it may be looking to avoid flooding the market with too many vehicles.
Looking ahead to 2025, Musk said in an earnings call in October that Tesla expects to offer lower-cost and autonomous vehicles in 2025, which should lead to “20% to 30% growth” during 2024.
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