Tesla sales fall for the first time in more than a decade as China’s BYD soars

Teslas may be booming, but sales aren’t. Elon Musk’s car company has released its annual sales figures for 2024, which reveal that it achieved 1.79 million – slightly below the 1.8 million the company shipped in 2023. It is the first time in more than a decade that the company experienced a decline in car sales despite. discounted pricesmassive hype driven eventsand the wider availability of the Cybertruck.

The slacking sales figures for the year, which were not estimated by analysts, come despite a mad rush to make up for lost time in the fourth quarter. From October to December, Tesla delivered 495,570 vehicles – a figure driven in part by the company. offering whatever incentive he could find to attract future car buyers. Do you want 0% financing? You understand. Three months of free access to “Full Self-Driving” and Supercharging? Done. Super cheap rentals? For sure. However, the sale fell short – and now the the stock is downas well.

Typically, when you know you’re going to miss investor markers, you try to temper expectations for the future until you can rebuild. But Musk has already laid the groundwork for exponential growth. In October, Tesla’s CEO told investors that he expects sales to increase up to 30% in 2025.

It would be fair to call this statement dubious, especially considering that the company has been just short of its sales goals in a year where market conditions are much more favorable than they will be soon. Musk’s friend Donald Trump appears seated killing the Biden-era electric vehicle tax creditthat was credit with EV juicing sales in recent years. Even places that intend to keep a credit to encourage car buyers to go electric, like California, are considering it now. excluding Teslas from eligibility.

Worldwide, the market is going to be much more complicated for Tesla to compete as well. While the company broke a high record for car sales in China last monthis also getting its lunch eaten on the global stage by the Chinese firm BYD. The company sold 4.25 million cars this year and now threatens to overtake Tesla as the most popular EV in China.

There doesn’t seem to be an obvious savior on the horizon for Tesla, either. The Cybertruck remains the company’s most recognizable vehicle thanks to its futuristic dumpster vibe, but the company has delivered. less than 50,000 units in 2024 and it seems that the truck demand is flat or declining.

Maybe Trump’s plan loosening federal regulations on self-driving vehicles will lead to a massive rush on Tesla’s promise”Cybercab“, a two-seater autonomous car (which could actually be remotely controlled by humans) that Musk says will cost under $30,000 and hit the roads in two to three years. But given the company challenges in increasing production on something, it would be difficult to imagine that he could meet the demand even if he presented the opportunity to return to the sales chart.