Elon Musk’s Tesla sees first sales drop since 2011 as competition rises, Trump support holds back customers

Tesla’s stock fell 6.1% on Thursday when it announced the sales figures. The stock had soared about 50% prior to this on Elon Musk’s close aide Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections.

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This is despite the automaker offering 0% financing, free charging, and low-priced leases, which only managed to raise sales 2.3% in the final quarter of the year. That was 495,570 vehicles from October through December, for a total of 1.79 million for the full year.

It wasn’t enough to compensate for the sluggish start of the same year. In 2023, the total sales figure was 1.81 million.

Most were of the smaller and less-expensive Models 3 and Y, with only 23,640 of its more expensive models, like the Model X, S, and the new Cybertruck.

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According to the report, which cited data from analytics firm Global Data, this sales drop was the first since 2011.

The drop came amid increasing competition in China, Europe, and the US as the company’s model lineup ages. For example, China’s BYD saw sales go 41% up last year, with 1.77 million EVs sold.

The reason for sale drop

The AP report said another reason could be Musk’s support of Trump for US president that could also turn off some buyers since the more environmentally conscious ones usually lean toward Democrats.

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The report also quoted Daniel Ives, a financial analyst at Wedbush, as saying that he thinks the stock should be valued more basedon its promise of creating fully self-driving, autonomous vehicles.

“We have never viewed Tesla simply as a car company,” he wrote. “Instead we have always viewed Musk and Tesla as a leading disruptive technology global player.”

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