Tesla sold fewer cars in the first quarter of 2024 than it did one year ago, catching Wall Street off guard and underscoring the challenges the company faces as the electric vehicle market evolves.
The U.S. automaker delivered 386,810 vehicles worldwide between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to company data released Tuesday. That’s an 8.5 percent drop compared to the same period in 2023 — and Tesla’s first year-over-year decline in vehicle deliveries since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Tesla also produced 46,000 more electric vehicles than it delivered to customers, adding to the U.S. auto industry’s EV supply glut.
“That gap between production and deliveries could spell a big headache for Tesla,” said Will Roberts, automotive research lead at Rho Motion, a London-based consultancy group that specializes in the electric vehicle and battery storage markets.
