Tesla has announced its fourth-quarter report and presented a fall in delivery count. The electronic vehicle maker reported its first annual sales decline followed by a dip in stock prices. Elon Musk’s Tesla started the year with a miss and disappointed investors with a first year-over-year decline in sales. For the fourth quarter, electronic vehicle makers delivered 495,930 vehicles, missing out on the analyst’s forecast of 510,000 deliveries globally.
In 2024, Tesla did annual sales of 1.78 million electric vehicles which is lower than last year’s sales of 1.8 million. The stock prices fell by 6% on Thursday amid a disappointing annual sales count. The decline in sales hints that competition, demand, and global needs are hitting hard on the company’s revenue.
Tesla’s Sales Slip: A Yearly Decline
The annual sales number is a shocker for investors as Tesla has reported its first year-over-year decline. Recently, the company reported a 50% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). However, Tesla was anticipating the decline and stated earlier that the “vehicle volume growth rate may be notably lower than the growth rate achieved in 2023.”
Tesla said that they are preparing to launch its next-generation advanced vehicle at Gigafactory Texas, which may affect the production and sales of the company. However, investors weren’t anticipating a decline in annual sales which came as a real shocker for them.
Tesla’s Growth Outlook for 2025 – What’s Next?
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives expressed confidence in Tesla’s 2025 growth, forecasting a 20%-30% increase in deliveries. He highlighted the expected launch of a lower-priced EV and the growth of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, robotaxi testing, and products like the Cybercab as key drivers. This momentum could push Tesla’s market cap to $2 trillion or more.
Ives said, “The laser focus for Tesla is the 2025 reaccelerated delivery growth story and FSD penetration with autonomous the grand vision for Musk & Co. Any sell-off today on weaker 4Q delivery numbers we are strong buyers.”
Tesla Outpaces BYD in Annual Sales
BYD released its annual sales report on January 1, which was posing competition to outpace it as the world’s largest EV maker. BYD sold 1.76 million EVs in 2024 and some analysts predicted that BYD could surpass Tesla in annual sales, thanks to aggressive discounting strategies that have boosted the Chinese EV maker’s sales numbers.
Although Tesla had a year-over-year decline in annual sales, the company managed to not fall behind BYD. Elon Musk’s Tesla delivered 1.78 million EVs globally in 2024, leaving behind Chinese EV makers. However, the competition is close and BYD’s affordable price and aggressive discounts can hurt Tesla’s sales in the long run.
