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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTesla sales declined 13% in the first three months of the year, another sign that Elon Musk’s once high-flying electric car company is struggling to attract buyers.
The double-digit drop is likely due to a combination of factors, including its aging lineup, competition from rivals and a backlash from Musk’s embrace of disruptive politics. It also is a warning that the company’s first-quarter earnings report later this month could disappoint investors.
Tesla reported deliveries of 336,681 globally in the January to March quarter. The figure was down from sales of 387,000 in the same period a year ago. The decline came despite deep discounts, zero financing and other incentives.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected much higher deliveries of 408,000.
Dan Ives of Wedbush said in a note to clients that Tesla is seeing soft demand in the United States and China, as well as facing pressure in Europe.
“The brand crisis issues are clearly having a negative impact on Tesla … there is no debate,” he said.
Ives said that Wall Street and analysts alike knew that the first-quarter figures were likely to be bad, but that it was even worse than expected.
“We are not going to look at these numbers with rose-colored glasses…they were a disaster on every metric,” he said.
Tesla’s stock has plunged by roughly half since hitting a mid-December record as expectations of a lighter regulatory touch and big profits with Donald Trump as president were replaced by fear that the boycott of Musk’s cars and other problems could hit the company hard.
Analysts are still not sure exactly how much the fall in sales is due to the protests or other factors. Electric car sales have been sluggish in general, and Tesla in particular is suffering as car buyers hold off from buying its bestselling Model Y because of plans for an updated version later this year.
The Austin, Texas-based electric vehicle maker has also lost market share to rivals in recent months as their offerings improve, including those of BYD. The Chinese EV giant unveiled in March a technology that allows it cars to charge up in just a few minutes.
Shares of Tesla slipped nearly 6% in early trading on Wednesday.
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You can barely trade in used Tesla’s according to comments I’ve seen on YT and other platforms. Dealers don’t want them because of declining brand value, and prospective EV buyers are fearful of used batteries. Used Model S prices are pretty tempting though if you pay cash, and have another vehicles for long road trips.
You mean turning the White House lawn into a car commercial didn’t work? And people don’t want the Cybertruck, a massive recall on wheels (it’s had eight)?
Shocking.
Little wonder Musk wants government intervention to bail him out, in terms of tariffs to protect him from competition and regulatory changes so the government stops holding him accountable for building crummy vehicles. (And that’s leaving aside the entire “Full Self Driving” and “Autopilot” thing, which should have been withdrawn immediately, and the billions he’s gotten already.)
Go MAGAt go Broke
+1. Just wait until Q2 earnings…
This sets up a “heroic exit” for Elon. “Because of the violence and negative campaign against Tesla, I’m being forced to return to the company to steer through these troubled times.”
In the meantime, TSLA stock value might fall enough that the banks start calling loans secured by shares…