Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk speaks during a Tesla product launch event in Los Angeles on October 10, 2024.
Tesla | Via Reuters
Tesla announced the production and deliveries of vehicles 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 in 2024: 1,789,226
Total annual production in 2024: 1,773,443
The results for the quarter represent the first annual decline in deliveries for Tesla, down from 484,507 in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year, deliveries fell from 1.81 million in 2023.
Shares of Tesla fell more than 3% in premarket trading on Thursday.
Analysts had expected Tesla to report quarterly deliveries of 504,770, including 474,000 Model 3 and Model Y EVs, according to consensus estimates compiled by StreetAccount. Tesla sent some investors the company’s consensus estimate for shipments of 506,763 vehicles, based on a survey of 26 analysts. A widely followed independent Tesla researcher, who publishes as Troy Tesla, predicted deliveries of 501,000.
The deliveries are the closest estimate to sales reported by Tesla, but were not precisely defined in the company’s shareholder communications.
The fourth-quarter report comes on the heels of a big year-end rally in Tesla shares, which ended 2024 up 63%. In mid-December, shares reached a recordeclipsing their previous all-time high of 2021.
It was a big turnaround from the first quarter, when the stock down 29%the worst period since 2022, as the company struggled with falling sales despite price cuts and customer incentives. At the company’s first quarter earnings call in April, the CEO Elon Musk told investors that while he expects “higher sales this year than last,” the growth rate will slow from 38% in 2023.
The biggest story in Tesla in the last half of the year was Musk’s role in the newly elected president Donald Trump election campaign. Musk, the world’s richest person, has invested about $277 million in the promotion of Trump and other Republican candidates, and has spent weeks campaigning in swing states.
Elon Musk speaks with US President-elect Donald Trump as he watches the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, USA on November 19, 2024.
Brandon Bell | Via Reuters
Musk, who also runs SpaceX and xAI and owns the social network X, has been tapped to co-lead a Trump administration advisory group that will seek 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 of concern among investors or electric vehicle buyers will not be reflected in Tesla’s numbers before the first quarter, he said.
Until recently, Tesla was 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 as well as 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 better than any other EV maker, especially when it comes to its charging network. But Tesla’s biggest operational challenge in the latest quarter was “the day-to-day business of a car company.”
‘Hoarding on used car lots’
Tesla has invested in a humanoid robotics and chip development initiative and plans to produce dedicated robotaxis and launch a driverless ride-hailing service before 2027. While Musk and shareholders may not want to see Tesla as just a car company, the majority of profits still come from vehicle sales.
George said Tesla made a mistake by not bringing “more affordable electric vehicles to 2024,” adding that Cybertrucks — the company’s latest vehicle — “are piling up in used car lots.” The angular steel Cybertruck starts at around $80,000.
With competitors gaining market share in Europe, Tesla experienced a big drop in sales in the region during the fourth quarter.
From January to the end of November, Tesla sold 283,000 vehicles in Europe, down about 14% compared to the same period last year, according to registration data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, or ACEA. Registrations in Europe fell 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 is failing 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, grew significantly faster than Tesla. BYD is also setting up plants outside of China and exporting prodigiously.
In North America, Tesla remained dominant. The company offered a number of incentives i price reductionseven on its most popular SUV model Y, during the fourth quarter to boost sales. Still, Tesla experienced a stockpile.
During the fourth quarter, the company sent Cybertruck assembly line workers home for several days, indicating it may want to avoid flooding the market with too many vehicles.
Looking ahead to 2025, Musk said during a phone call in October that Tesla expects to offer cheaper and autonomous vehicles in 2025, which should lead to “20% to 30% growth” over 2024.
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