Tesla posted its first-ever fall in annual sales as a public company in its Q4 2024 production, deliveries and deployments report on Thursday.
The Elon Musk-led company’s sales declined by 1% year-over-year, which is a sharp fall for a brand that was once reporting annual sales growth of almost 50% every 12 months. In 2023, for instance, Tesla’s sales were up 37% from 2022, so the company’s latest report is indicative of just how intensely the EV market’s slowing demand and increased competition (not only from Chinese rivals like BYD but also international carmakers like General Motors and Ford) have affected its performance.
Across the year, Tesla produced 1.77 million cars, which was down approximately 4% from 2023. In the fourth quarter, the company sold 495,570 vehicles, up 2% from 2023’s figure. Notably, Tesla’s sales fell significantly behind those of BYD, which sold 595,413 vehicles in the same period. Over the full year, however, Tesla sold 1.8 million vehicles, which was 24,000 more vehicles than BYD.
Tesla’s shares fell more than 4% in early trading following the news, though they closed the year with 68% growth, largely thanks to a spike after Election Day.
Tesla will share its full financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024 once the market closes on January 29. See the company’s production, deliveries and deployments report for the period here.
