Tesla’s sales fell year-over-year for the first time

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Tesla’s production and delivery numbers for 2024 are out, and the numbers are pretty sobering.

The premiere EV company in the US produced 1.77 million cars this year, a drop of about 4 percent compared to the previous year, and delivered 1.79 million vehicles this year, or about 1 percent less than 2023. Tesla also deployed 31.4 GWh in energy storage.

That said, the company said it had a “record” fourth quarter for deliveries, with 495,570 vehicles making their way to customers. Tesla also said it deployed 11 GWh of energy storage products, which it also said was a record. And it produced 459,445 vehicles, most of which were Model 3s and Ys.

But the late year rally wasn’t enough to bring the company’s full-year numbers in line with 2023. And indeed, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had warned at the beginning of the year that increased competition and reduced demand for the company’s aging lineup of vehicles was going to be an overall drag on its performance in 2024. Not even the relative popularity of the Cybertruck, which began deliveries late last year, was enough to lift Tesla’s fortunes for the year.

And despite setting records for deliveries and energy deployment for Q4, the company still came in below Wall Street’s expectations of 504,800 vehicles delivered, according to Wedbush’s Dan Ives. Tesla’s stock price was down about 5 percent on the gloomy news.

It’s unclear how Tesla will navigate the new environment after Donald Trump resumes the presidency. Much has been said about Musk and Trump’s burgeoning alliance, but the incoming president is likely to eliminate a lot of the incentives that helped make Tesla vehicles more affordable to consumers, including a $7,500 tax credit on new EVs.

Musk has said that a more affordable Tesla is on deck for 2025, and a fully autonomous Cybercab for 2026 — though both projects face a lot of hurdles. And of course, China looms over everything, as the country’s surging domestic EV production continues to put pressure on US manufacturers who do business there. China is Tesla’s largest and most important market, and the company is continuing to lose market share to BYD and other major players.