Tesla’s delivery figures fell by 8.5 percent in the first quarter, to 386,810 cars, reports Automotive News.
– The decrease in volume was partly due to the early phase of production of the updated Model 3 at the factory in Fremont, factory shutdowns as a result of new shipping routes caused by the Red Sea conflict and an arson at the Gigafactory Berlin, Tesla says in a statement.
The last time Tesla had a decline in production was in the second quarter of 2020, when the pandemic forced them to shut down production.
The effect diminishes
Automotive News also points out that the decline compared to the same period last year, when Tesla produced 433,371 cars, may mean that the effect of the price cut at the start of 2023 is starting to wane.
At the same time, Tesla is not alone in encountering some speed bumps in terms of sales.
Byd, China’s largest electric car maker, reports that sales in the first quarter of 2024 fell by 43 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, Reuters reports. This means that Tesla is back as the world’s largest in terms of sales of electric cars, a status Byd could boast of in the last quarter of last year.
On the other hand, Byd’s figures from the first quarter of this year are 13.4 per cent better than the same period last year.
Industry analysts warn that Tesla’s growth could flatten out this year due to the cooling of the electric car market in the United States, as well as stiff competition around the world.
Elon Musk said at the start of 2024 that Tesla’s next wave of growth will not come until they have a cheap car on the market, probably late in 2025.
Several analysts believe one of Tesla’s biggest challenges is the lack of new products. The exception is the Cybertruck, but it is to a small extent a product for the mass market, which is currently only sold in the USA.
Also in Norway
– With ever-increasing competition, an aging product line and a general decline in electric car sales, the most successful car company in the last 10 years must reconsider its long-term planning, says Karl Brauer, analyst at iSeeCars, to Automotive News.
He adds that this is a completely new situation for Tesla.
The tendency is the same in Norway. The brand is still by far the most popular, but the delivery frequency in the first quarter is 46 per cent below last year, in a market that has fallen 22 per cent, according to figures from the Road Traffic Information Council.
