Dive Brief:
- Tesla delivered almost 387,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2024, an 8.5% year-over-year decline, according to a press release Tuesday.
- The Model 3 and Model Y accounted for the vast majority of Tesla’s deliveries, with the automaker delivering nearly 370,000 units in Q1. Tesla’s other models, including the Model S, Model X and Cybertruck, made up just over 17,000 of its Q1 deliveries.
- Tesla’s quarterly deliveries were the lowest since Q2 2020, when the pandemic disrupted production at the automaker’s factory in Fremont, California.
Dive Insight:
The company’s sales have slowed amid weak electric vehicle demand, increasing competition and falling prices in the EV segment, especially in China.
China-based automaker BYD, for example, overtook Tesla as the world’s biggest EV seller in Q4 2023 before Tesla retook the global EV sales crown in Q1 2024. With its more affordable EVs, BYD is emerging as a major competitor for Tesla in China.
Tesla’s deliveries declined, in part, because the company had to ramp up production of the updated Model 3 at its California assembly plant, according to the release. An arson attack at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Germany, as well as shipping diversions caused by the Red Sea conflict, also cut deliveries, the company said.
The automaker produced more than 433,000 vehicles in Q1, resulting in a backlog of over 46,000 undelivered vehicles.
During Tesla’s earnings call with analysts in January, CEO Elon Musk warned that growing competition from automakers in China could make it increasingly difficult for the company to compete in the EV market. He also said that automakers in China could dominate the global EV market if tariffs or trade barriers are not put in place.
Tesla will post its Q1 financial results on April 23.
