Tesla Inc. Is the World’s Top EV Seller Despite a Disappointing Quarter

While the signs had been clear that it would be a difficult quarter, analysts were still taken aback as the numbers were far lower than their revised estimates had suggested.

The company delivered 8.5% fewer cars than in the same period of 2023, surprising analysts who had expected to see an increase. The news caused TSLA shares to drop by 4.9% in intraday trading, continuing their spectacular loss of value that’s seen the price fall by more than a third in 2024 to date.

TSLA had already advised that the rises in interest rates had hurt their sales despite dropping the price of the vehicles. They’ve also suffered a variety of other issues, such as plant disruption and a suspected arson attack at their factory in Germany.

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The company mentioned shipping delays in the Red Sea and the switch to an upgraded Model 3 season as being among the key reasons for the falling numbers. During the quarter, they made 46,561 vehicles more than they delivered to customers.

It’s unclear how well the new Cybertruck has been selling, but we know that TSLA has again overtaken China-based BYD Co. as the top EV seller. The Asian giant sold just over 300,000 EVs in the first quarter of the year, although its total sales were more than double that amount.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said of the numbers:

While we were anticipating a bad first quarter, this was an unmitigated disaster that is hard to explain away.