The fourth quarter of 2024 has not been a productive one for Elton Musk’s Tesla, as its vehicle deliveries fell below expectations, marking the company’s first year-over-year decline since it began mass-producing cars in 2012. The company delivered 1.79 million vehicles globally in 2024, which was a 1.1% decrease from the 1.81 million cars it sold in 2023, and produced 1.77 million vehicles for the same period. The overall financial results will be released by the end of the month, on January 29.
The Cybertruck, which is Tesla’s first major new model since 2020 and was in the works for years, made its debut last year. However, it failed to substantially boost the company’s overall growth and had limited success in the market. Only a small number of these vehicles contributed to the overall delivery figures for the year, particularly in comparison to the robust sales figures enjoyed by its more affordable models like the Model 3 and Model Y.
Tesla’s fourth-quarter results painted a similar picture. In the last quarter of 2024, Tesla delivered 495,570 vehicles, slightly exceeding the 484,507 delivered in the same period in 2023 but still falling short of analyst expectations of around 505,000 units. Breaking this up, we find that Tesla produced 436,718 units of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles for the fourth quarter, and delivered 471,930 units of the same. For the entire year, 1.67 million vehicles of the Model 3 and Model Y were produced, and 1.7 million deliveries of the same vehicles were made for the same period.
22,727 vehicles of other models were produced during the quarter, and overall, the company produced 459,445 vehicles in the fourth quarter, which also failed to exceed the forecasts. This decline in deliveries was a stark contrast to the previous years, when Tesla had enjoyed rapid expansion. For several years, Tesla had been able to achieve a growth rate of approximately 35% annually, but the company’s goal of a 50% growth rate appears increasingly out of reach, despite ongoing price cuts and other incentives aimed at stimulating demand of the electric vehicles.
Tesla’s performance comes at a time when competition in the electric vehicle market has intensified significantly. Traditional automakers such as General Motors, Ford, and Volkswagen, as well as emerging players like BYD from China, are rapidly ramping up their electric vehicle offerings. This influx of new competition has put pressure on Tesla’s market share, especially in regions such as Europe and China. In Europe, Tesla saw a notable decline in sales, with a 14% drop in vehicle registrations from January to November 2024. Similarly, in China, Tesla’s growth has been slower than expected.
