Tesla announced its vehicle production and deliveries for the fourth quarter report on Thursday. Here are an important numbers:
Total deliveries Q4 2024: 495,570
Total production Q4 2024: 459,445
Total annual deliveries 2024: 1,789,226
Full 12 months production 2024: 1,773,443
The quarterly results marked the primary annual decline in delivery numbers for Tesla, which reported 1.81 million deliveries in 2023. 484,507 deliveries were reported within the fourth quarter of 2023.
Tesla shares fell as much as 7% in trading on Thursday before rising again on Friday.
Analysts had expected Tesla to report 504,770 deliveries within the quarter, including 474,000 Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles, in accordance with a consensus estimate compiled by StreetAccount. Tesla provided some investors with a company-compiled delivery consensus of 506,763 vehicles based on a survey of 26 analysts. A widely respected independent Tesla researcher who publishes as Troy Teslike predicted deliveries of 501,000.
Deliveries are the closest to Tesla's reported sales, but should not precisely defined in the corporate's shareholder announcements.
The fourth-quarter report follows an enormous year-end rally in Tesla shares that ended 2024 up 63%. In mid-December, the stock reached a record high, surpassing its previous all-time high from 2021.
It was a giant turnaround from the primary quarter, when the stock plunged 29%, its worst period since 2022, as the corporate struggled with declining sales despite price cuts and incentives for buyers. At the corporate's first-quarter earnings call in April, CEO Elon Musk told investors that while he expected “higher sales this year than last year,” the expansion rate would slow from 38% in 2023.
The biggest story at Tesla within the last half of the 12 months was Musk's role in President-elect Donald Trump's election campaign. Musk, the world's richest person, invested about $277 million to advertise Trump and other Republican candidates and spent weeks campaigning in swing states.
Musk, who also runs SpaceX and xAI and the social network
Sam Fiorani, vp of industry research group AutoForecast Solutions, told CNBC in an email that Musk's foray into politics could have “distracted him from his core business.” However, the extent to which investors or electric vehicle buyers care is not going to be reflected in Tesla's numbers until the primary quarter, he said.
Until recently, Tesla was certainly one of the few automakers to mass-produce battery-electric vehicles. The company now faces an onslaught of competition from domestic automakers, including General Motors, ford And Rivian in addition to BYD in China, Hyundai in Korea and European auto giants BMW And Volkswagen.
Patrick George, editor-in-chief of InsideEVs, told CNBC that he thinks Tesla still does many things higher than some other electric vehicle maker, especially on the subject of its charging network. But Tesla's biggest operational challenge last quarter was “the core mission of an automotive company.”
“Heaps on used car lots”
Tesla has invested in a humanoid robotics and chip development initiative and plans to provide a dedicated robotaxi and launch a driverless ride service before 2027. While Musk and his shareholders may not wish to view Tesla as only a automotive company, most of its profits still come from vehicle sales.
George said that Tesla had made a mistake by not specializing in “bringing more affordable electric vehicles to market in 2024,” adding that Cybertrucks – the corporate's newest vehicle – are “piling up on the used car lots.” The square steel Cybertruck starts at around $80,000.
As competitors in Europe gained market share, Tesla saw a pointy decline in sales within the region within the fourth quarter.
From January to the tip of November, Tesla sold 283,000 vehicles in Europe, down about 14% from the identical period last 12 months, in accordance with registration data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). Registrations in Europe fell in November from around 31,810 within the previous 12 months to 18,786.
The company's business in China was also under pressure within the fourth quarter.
Fiorani said that although the Model Y is the second best-selling model in China, “its growth cannot keep up with the growth of the market.” Through November, Model Y sales rose greater than 5%, but overall electric vehicle sales within the country rose 8%, he said.
Meanwhile, BYD and other brands in China, including Chery, Li Auto, Jetour, LeapMotor and Aito, grew significantly faster than Tesla. BYD also sets up factories outside China and exports on a big scale.
Tesla continues to be dominant in North America. The company offered a lot of incentives and Price reductionseven on its hottest SUV, Model Y, within the fourth quarter to spice up sales. Nevertheless, Tesla saw a rise in inventories.
In the fourth quarter, the corporate sent staff on the Cybertruck assembly line home for a couple of days, suggesting it could be attempting to avoid flooding the market with too many vehicles.
Looking ahead to 2025, Musk said on a conference call in October that Tesla expects to supply lower-cost and autonomous vehicles in 2025, which should result in “20% to 30% growth” in 2024.
REGARD: The Chinese automotive market could reach 55-60% electric vehicle share by the tip of 2025
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