The good news: in 2024 Q1, Tesla regained the #1 world EV sales spot from Chinese automaker BYD. BYD's world sales were down 43% from 2023 Q4, though they were still up over 13% from 2023 Q1.
The bad news: despite returning to the top EV sales spot, Tesla suffered a worse than expected decline in sales. Year on year (Q1), their sales were down about 8%. The drop from 2023 Q4 was 20%. This is Tesla's first sales decline since the early months of the pandemic. It's also a larger fall than financial analyists were predicting. Until now, both BYD and Tesla have gained sales at least in part by cutting their prices. However, Tesla has recently started raising prices again. The popular Model Y, for example, is up about $1,000 in the US. Tesla has previously been uncommonly profitable for a vehicle manufacturer, so they had room to reduce prices. However, the declining profit margins have depressed their stock price. Tesla stock has given up about 35% of its value this year. The stock tumble has toppled Elon Musk from his "I'm the richest man in the world" pedestal. It's too early to say whether this is a trend, but EV competition from established automakers is heating up. This is especially so in Europe and Asia, where other automakers, and not just Chinese, are already introducing EVs around and under 25,000 euros (about US$27,000). Still more affordable EVs are set to arrive, at least outside the US, in 2025. Meanwhile, Tesla has suggested that they won't offer an EV in that price class until at least 2026. More details: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/02/business/tesla-sales/index.html https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/byd-may-hand-back-top- ev-seller-title-tesla-after-q1-sales-decline-2024-04-02/ or https://v.gd/LEgDWi https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/business/tesla-auto-sales-first- quarter.html or https://v.gd/UZDUWV David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Whereas Socialism, and even capitalism in a more grudging way, have said to people, "I offer you a good time," Hitler has said to them, "I offer you struggle, danger and death." As a result, a whole nation flings itself at his feet. -- George Orwell = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
