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Tesla's full-year auto sales fell short of the company's forecast, as reported Thursday, indicating increased competition in the electric vehicle market, particularly in China. While the company achieved a record 495,570 deliveries in the fourth quarter, it missed Wall Street expectations, resulting in a full-year total of just under 1.8 million vehicles, approximately one percent lower than 2023 sales, despite a previous projection of "slight growth."
Besides rising competition from producers like China's BYD and legacy auto companies, analysts pointed to a sluggish ramp-up of production of the futuristic Cybertruck.
Shares of Tesla fell sharply following the release, cutting into the company's massive gains since the November 5 US presidential election.
The sales figure caps a mixed 2024 for Tesla, a year in which Musk dove full-on into US electoral politics. He helped to deliver the presidency to Republican Donald Trump through massive contributions and the amplification of anti-immigrant and other Trump rhetoric on Musk's X platform, the former Twitter.
But Tesla's profits through the first three quarters of 2024 fell 31 percent from the equivalent period of 2023, a reflection of moves to slash prices in the wake of slowing demand. Tesla has called the current period of moderating sales reflective of its position "between two major growth waves," with the next period of volume increases due to advances in autonomy and the introduction of new vehicle products.
The company has faced pressure to roll out new vehicles, with Wall Street particularly eager to see a lower-priced model. The Model 3 currently starts at around $30,000.
Investors cheered a Musk statement in July that he plans a new, more affordable model in the first half of 2025, but the company has provided few details.
Tesla's press release Thursday did not break out
Shares of Tesla rose more than 60 percent between the November 5 election of Trump as president and the end of 2024, with the market certain that Musk's clout with the incoming administration will benefit Tesla initiatives in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence.
