Tesla’s new Model 3 sedans wait to be shipped aboard at Shanghai Haitong International Automotive Terminal in Shanghai, China, on March 14, 2024.
Tesla on Tuesday published its first-quarter vehicle production and deliveries report for 2024 that showed deliveries fell 8.5% from the year-ago quarter. Here are the key numbers:
- Total deliveries Q1 2024: 386,810
- Total production Q1 2024: 433,371
Shares dropped 7% in premarket trading. Tesla doesn’t break out sales by model but reported that it produced 412,376 Model 3/Y cars and delivered 369,783. It produced 20,995 of its other models and delivered 17,027.
Deliveries are the closest approximation of sales reported by Tesla but are not precisely defined in the company’s shareholder communications.
According to a mean of 11 estimates compiled by FactSet, analysts were expecting deliveries of around 457,000 for the period ending March 31. Estimates ranged from a high of 511,000 deliveries to a low of 414,000 for the first quarter, with estimates updated in March ranging from 414,000 to 469,000 deliveries.
Tesla faced numerous challenges in the first quarter. Houthi militia attacks on shippers in the Red Sea disrupted Tesla’s component supply and temporarily suspended production at its German factory outside of Berlin in January.
In China, Tesla faced an onslaught of competition from domestic EV makers, including BYD and newcomers such as the phone maker Xiaomi. After sluggish sales numbers for its China-made cars in January and February, Tesla reduced production of its Model 3 and Model Y at its Shanghai plant and slashed workers’ schedules to 5 days a week from 6 and a half days.
During the final days of the first quarter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mandated that all sales and service staff install and demo the newest version of the company’s premium driver assistance system for customers in North America before handing over their cars.
Shares of Tesla dropped 29% in the first quarter, the biggest decline since the end of 2022 and the third-steepest quarterly plunge since the company’s IPO in 2010.
