Tesla missed expectations for third-quarter deliveries on Wednesday, hurt by stiff competition from rivals in China and Europe, sending shares of the world’s most valuable carmaker down 3.5% in premarket trading.
The EV maker delivered 462,890 vehicles in the three months to September 30, up 6.4% from the previous quarter.
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Wall Street on average had expected the Elon Musk-led company to deliver 469,828 vehicles, according to 12 analysts polled by LSEG.
The company should deliver a record 516,344 vehicles in the fourth quarter to match last year’s figure of 1.81 million vehicles delivered. The shortfall could lead to Tesla recording its first annual drop in deliveries.
Growing competition in the United States, a lack of funding in Europe and slowing consumer spending in China were a drag on Tesla’s quarterly deliveries.
Tesla faces fierce competition from Chinese automakers such as BYD and Xpeng, which are aggressively expanding their presence in the world’s largest auto market, with the help of local government subsidies.
However, BYD’s sales of 443,426 battery electric vehicles in the third quarter were lower than Tesla’s as the Chinese EV giant focused on plug-in hybrid vehicles, whose deliveries jumped more than 75% in the latest quarter.
In July, BMW led the European battery electric vehicle market for the first time, beating Tesla, which has been losing market share to domestic firms, according to a report by JATO Dynamics.
Price and profit cuts have also squeezed Tesla’s profit margins.
The company is expected to unveil its robotaxi product at a closely watched event on October 10 in Los Angeles as it tries to change strategy, focusing on AI-powered autonomous technology.
First published: October 02 2024 | 7:25 PM IST