Tesla Posts Q4 Vehicle Production and Deliveries Report
Tesla posted its fourth-quarter vehicle production and deliveries report, which showed a total of 495,570 deliveries and 459,445 production units. This marks the first annual drop in delivery numbers for the company, which reported 1.81 million deliveries in 2023.
The company’s shares fell by as much as 7% in trading on Thursday, despite analysts expecting deliveries of 504,770, including 474,000 Model 3 and Model Y EVs. The fourth-quarter report comes after a huge late-year rally in Tesla’s stock, which finished 2024 up 63%.
The biggest story at Tesla in the back half of the year was CEO Elon Musk’s role in President-elect Donald Trump’s election campaign. Musk poured in around $277 million to promote Trump and other Republican candidates, and spent weeks on the road campaigning in swing states.
Musk’s foray into politics may have “pulled his focus away from his core businesses,” according to Sam Fiorani, a vice president at industry research group AutoForecast Solutions. However, the degree to which investors or EV buyers care won’t be reflected in Tesla’s numbers until the first quarter.
Tesla 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. The company’s biggest operational challenge in the latest quarter was “the nuts-and-bolts job of being a car company,” according to Patrick George, editor in chief of InsideEVs.
Tesla has invested in a humanoid robotics initiative and chip development, and plans to produce a dedicated robotaxi and start a driverless ride-hailing service before 2027. However, most of the profits are still derived from vehicle sales.
The company made a mistake not bringing “more affordable EVs in 2024,” according to George, and added that Cybertrucks are “piling up on used car lots.” The angular steel Cybertruck starts at around $80,000.
Tesla experienced a steep drop in sales in Europe during the fourth quarter, with registrations in the region sliding to 18,786 in November from around 31,810 a year earlier. The company’s business in China was also pressured in the fourth quarter, with the Model Y failing to keep up with growth of the market.
Looking ahead to 2025, Musk said on an earnings call in October that Tesla expects to be offering lower-cost and autonomous vehicles, which should lead to “20% to 30% growth” over 2024.