Tesla sells fewer electric cars, share price soars
Tesla delivers fewer cars for the second quarter in a row. Shareholders are relieved because it could be worse.
A Tesla dealership in Vancouver, Canada
(Image: Daniel AJ Sokolov)
Tesla produced 410,831 electric cars in the second quarter of 2024. This is a decrease of 14.4 percent compared to the second quarter of 2023. Tesla delivered 443,956 electric cars in the most recent quarter, the vast majority of which were Model 3s and Ys. That is a decrease of 4.7 percent. The share price reacted with a jump of more than eight percent.
This was because investors had expected sales to fall more sharply. On average, stock market analysts estimated a 0.7 percentage point greater decline. The decline in production, on the other hand, is less significant. It is because Tesla does not have infinite storage space. For more than two years, namely nine quarters in a row, Tesla has consistently produced more electric cars than it has delivered. It was therefore inevitable and foreseeable that the company would hit the brakes on production.
One ray of hope is that Tesla is delivering more batteries for stationary use. In the second quarter, it set a new quarterly record with a total capacity of 9.4 GWh. However, this division only accounts for a single-digit percentage of total sales.
Second consecutive quarter of contraction
The number of vehicles delivered, i.e., handed over to customers, is the best approximation of sales figures that the company can provide. Tesla published the statistics on Tuesday. Sales have now fallen for the second quarter in a row (compared to the same quarter of the previous year). In the first quarter of 2023, Tesla sold fewer cars for the first time.
Meanwhile, most other electric car manufacturers are selling more and more electric vehicles. This threatens Tesla with losing its absolute majority share of the market for new electric cars in the USA. However, its market leadership there is beyond doubt in the foreseeable future.
In Canada, however, this could also change soon, as the country is planning high tariffs on electric cars produced in China. In addition, Chinese electric cars could be excluded from Canadian sales subsidies. Teslas from Shanghai account for the lion's share of electric cars imported to Canada from China.
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