Tesla deliveries expected to fall for second straight quarter

Electric vehicle maker Tesla is expected to report a second straight quarterly decline in deliveries due to fierce competition in China and slower demand for electric vehicles in the United States

The Elon Musk-led automaker is set to report quarterly results on Tuesday and is expected to report deliveries of 438,019 vehicles from April to June, according to an average estimate based on forecasts from 12 analysts surveyed by LSEG. Seven of the analysts surveyed have cut their expectations in the past three months.

Tesla’s sales slowdown comes after several years of rapid growth that propelled the electric-vehicle maker to become the world’s most valuable automaker. The company warned in January that sales growth in 2024 would be “significantly weaker” as the impact of months-long price cuts fades.

Consumers are increasingly turning to gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, leading Tesla to contend with a growing inventory of vehicles that it is trying to sell through price cuts and other incentives, such as cheaper financing and leasing options.

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Tesla saw deliveries decline in the first quarter of this year for the first time in nearly four years, and with another quarterly decline expected in the second quarter, some analysts are predicting it will post its first annual sales decline this year.

Amid shifting consumer preferences for electric vehicles and fierce competition overseas, Tesla plans to unveil its robotaxis plans on August 8 to promote its “full self-driving” software. The company has not yet revealed when production will begin or how many of them will be made.

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Tesla has seen sales plummet this year due to a price war on electric vehicles in China and as U.S. consumers shift to hybrid vehicles. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Tesla also plans to introduce new models to its electric vehicle lineup, including more affordable options. Musk spoke highly of these plans during a recent earnings call.

“In terms of the new product roadmap, there’s been a lot of talk about our future vehicle lineup over the last few weeks,” Musk said during the company’s earnings call in late April. “We’ve updated our future vehicle lineup to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of the previously mentioned start of production in the second half of 2025, so we expect that to happen more in early 2025, if not later this year.”

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Musk said in April that the company plans new models that could go into production in late 2024 or early 2025. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The New York Times/Getty Images)

“These new vehicles, including more affordable models, will utilize aspects of the next generation as well as aspects of our current platforms and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle lineup,” Musk added.

“So it doesn’t depend on a new factory or a massive new production line,” he explained. “Production will be carried out on our current production lines in a much more efficient way, and we believe that this should allow us to reach a production capacity of more than 3 million vehicles when the project is fully realized.”

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Musk didn’t provide specifics during the call about the potential price range for the new vehicles, so it’s unclear whether it will fall at or near the previously discussed $25,000 threshold, or whether it will be closer to the Model 3 — Tesla’s most affordable offering, which starts at around $39,000.

Tesla shares are down 24% over the past year. Its price has fallen about 14.5% since the start of the year, a figure that explains Monday’s surge.

Reuters contributed to this report.