For the first time in over ten years, Tesla’s sales declined last year as rivals accelerated and demand waned. Under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk, the business delivered about 1.79 million cars last year, a 1% decrease from 2023’s 1.8 million deliveries. This is in spite of the company’s frequent price reductions last year in an effort to attract customers and maintain its position as the leading manufacturer of electric cars (EVs) worldwide.
In 2024, the Shenzhen-based company sold over 4.2 million vehicles, an increase of greater than 41% year over year. Sales of its hybrid vehicles were the primary driver of the spike. Ninety percent of BYD’s automobiles are sold in China, where it has been gaining ground on international brands like Toyota and Volkswagen. It has profited from a surge in domestic auto sales as fierce competition lowered costs and government incentives enticed buyers to switch from their outdated vehicles to electric vehicles or other fuel-efficient models. China is another important market for Tesla, but as the pricing war continues, it has fallen behind competitors.
In other areas, like the US and Europe, the demand for EVs has also decreased, which has presented difficulties for numerous automakers. Among the businesses that lowered their sales goals or chose to postpone investments in EV technology last year were Volkswagen, Ford, and General Motors. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has attributed the company’s poorer sales in part to the increase in borrowing charges since 2022, which has made the product more costly to purchase. As Musk expands his political activity, which has been characterized as controversial, analysts have also noted heightened competition and concerns regarding the brand. After a decline in the first half of 2024, Tesla sales began to increase once more. It supplied roughly 495,000 cars in the last three months of 2024, a 2% increase.
In an effort to counter the competition from the Chinese auto industry, Honda and Nissan announced last month that they were in merger negotiations. Carlos Tavares, the CEO of the massive automaker Stellantis, resigned earlier this month due to a disagreement in the boardroom. Two months after Stellantis issued a profit warning, he abruptly left the corporation, which owns brands like Vauxhall, Jeep, Fiat, Peugeot, and Chrysler. European Union tariffs of up to 45.3% on imports of electric vehicles manufactured in China went into effect throughout the trading group in October. Additionally, the US has placed a 100% duty on Chinese EVs, and it is anticipated that President-elect Donald Trump will increase import duties. BYD has continued to increase its presence in developing nations. However, authorities in Brazil, its biggest international client, put a stop to the development of a BYD factory last month, claiming that the working conditions were akin to “slavery.
