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Tesla released its fourth quarter vehicle production and shipments report on Thursday Here are the key numbers:
Total deliveries Q4 2024: 495,570
Total production Q4 2024: 459,445
Total annual shipments 2024: 1,789,226
Total production year 2024: 1,773,443
The results for the quarter represent the first annual drop in delivery numbers for Tesla, which reported 1.81 million deliveries in 2023. It delivered 484,507 deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Tesla shares fell by 7% in trading on Thursday.
Analysts expected Tesla to report shipments in the quarter of 504,770, including 474,000 Model 3 and Model Y EVs, according to a consensus estimate compiled by StreetAccount. Tesla sent some investors a consensus of delivery compiled by the vehicle company 506,763, based on a survey of 26 analysts. A widely followed independent Tesla researcher, who publishes as Troy Teslike, predicted shipments of 501,000.
Shipments are the closest approximation of Tesla’s reported sales, but are not precisely defined in the company’s shareholder communications.
The fourth-quarter report comes after a big year-end rally in Tesla stock, which ended 2024 up 63%. In mid-December, the actions reached a recordeclipsing its all-time high by 2021.
It was a big turnaround from the first quarter, when the stock down 29%its worst period since 2022, as the company grappled with declining sales despite price cuts and incentives for shoppers. On the company’s first quarter earnings call in April, CEO Elon Musk told investors that while it expects “higher sales this year than last year,” the growth rate will slow to 38% in 2023.
The biggest story in Tesla in the middle of the year was the role of Musk in the president-elect By Donald Trump election campaign. Musk, the richest person in the world, has paid about 277 million dollars to promote Trump and other Republican candidates, and has spent weeks on the campaign trail in swing states.
Elon Musk speaks with US President-elect Donald Trump at a launch preview of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, US, on November 19, 2024.
Brandon Bell | Via Reuters
Musk, who also runs SpaceX and xAI and owns social network X, has been tapped to co-lead an advisory group to the Trump administration that aims to reduce federal spending, personnel and regulations.
Sam Fiorani, vice president of industry research group Auto Forecast Solutions, told CNBC in an email that Musk’s foray into politics may have “taken his focus away from his core businesses.” However, the degree to which investors or EV 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 producers, including General Motors, Ford and Rivian such as BYD in China, Hyundai in Korea, and the European auto giants BMW and Volkswagen.
Patrick George, editor-in-chief of InsideEVs, told CNBC that he thinks Tesla still does a lot of things better than any other EV maker, especially when it comes to its charging network. But Tesla’s biggest operational challenge in the last quarter was “the nuts and bolts of being a car company.”
“Collection on used car lots”
Tesla has invested in a humanoid robotics initiative and chip development, and plans to produce a dedicated robotaxi and start a driverless transportation service before 2027. While Musk and shareholders do not want to see Tesla as a car company, most of the profits. are still derived from the sale of vehicles.
George said Tesla made a mistake by not bringing out “more affordable EVs in 2024,” and added that Cybertrucks — the company’s newest vehicle — are “piling up in used car lots.” The angular steel Cybertruck starts at around $80,000.
With competitors taking market share in Europe, Tesla experienced a sharp decline in sales in the region during the fourth quarter.
Car carriers are loaded with new Tesla Model Y electric vehicles at the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg site.
Patrick Pleul | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
From January to the end of November, Tesla sold 283,000 vehicles in Europe, down about 14% from the same period a year earlier, according to registration data from the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers, or ACEA. Registrations in Europe slipped to 18,786 in November from around 31,810 a year earlier.
The company’s business in China was also under pressure in the fourth quarter.
Fiorani said that while the Model Y is the second best-selling model in China, “its growth has not managed to keep up with the growth of the market.” 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, have grown much faster than Tesla. BYD has also set up plants outside China and exports prodigiously.
In North America, Tesla has been dominant. The company offers a range of incentives and price cutseven in its most popular SUV Model Y, during the fourth quarter to drive sales. However, Tesla experienced an inventory build-up.
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 on an earnings call in October that Tesla expects to offer autonomous and lower-cost vehicles in 2025, which should lead to “20% to 30% growth” over 2024.
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